Dark Emperor
by jlf13766
Summary: This is first person in the eyes of Darth Vader, the Dark Emperor. This story takes place in an alternate universe where the events at the end of Episode 3 don't happen as we know it. Join Darth Vader as he becomes Emperor and rules his galaxy! But will he have everything he wants? Will he have Luke and Leia? What about Padmé? There is only one way to find out...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I've done some soul searching and decided to start this story from scratch. If you read the original Dark Emperor, I deleted it and am replacing it with this story. My writing style changed from when I first published the original Dark Emperor to the present and the original story was based off the ROTS movie, this will be based off the novelization by Matthew Stover, or at least the beginning will be.**

 **I'm also changing things up. This is completely AU, but the new canon (Thrawn (the Novel), Catalyst (the Novel) and the movie Rogue One, eventually) will be reflected here as well as the characters from those books and movie. However, the original story was mostly about Vader and Luke, this one will be more of a dark family story. I like Vadmè/Anidala stories and throwing the twins into the mix should be interesting.**

 **I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

 **Dark Emperor: Chapter 1**

* * *

A silvery reflective flash catches my eye as I kneel before the holoscan of my _Master_ , Darth Sidious. The silvery reflective flash outside the window makes it look as though an elegantly curved mirror is swinging through the smoke and cinder of this hellish nightmare of a planet, picking up the white-hot river of fire that I could feel even from here.

As I kneel here pretending to be a loyal, respectful Apprentice, I'm no longer afraid. He thought he could make me just turn my back on those who I once called my _friends_ and become his _loyal_ servant. Truth is, I'm not with him and never was. Everything I did up to this point was only for _me_.

Everything I did _today_ was only to secure the future of my _wife_ and _child_. If he has the power to help me save her, then I'll help him with his plans. The Jedi refused to help, he at least offered to help me find the way to save her. However, if what he said is a lie or if he later decides not to keep up his part of the promise, I won't hesitate to kill him like I killed so many today already.

I never even thought I had it in me but when push comes to shove, I'll _always_ choose Padmé. Even if I had to turn to the dark side to do it.

I just hope she understands when she learns the truth, I'm doing this for _her_.

For _me_.

For _us_.

For _us_ and _our_ unborn child.

Shaking off my thoughts, I continue my report. I don't need _him_ of all people to pick up on them.

"The Separatist leadership is no more, my Master."

 _"It is finished then."_ The hologram offers a translucent mockery of a smile before he continues. _"You have restored peace and order, Lord Vader."_

 _Lord Vader._

 _Darth Vader._

Just that name has me feeling like I'm _finally_ who I was _always_ meant to be.

 _Me_ becoming a Sith Lord was my destiny.

I can see that now and _Darth Vader_ is who I really am. Who I always _was_ , especially when I killed those Tusken Raiders after they killed my mother and especially when I finally accepted my destiny and slaughtered all of the Jedi at the Jedi Temple.

Even the youngling's.

Maybe it was wrong of me to kill them but even they were brainwashed to serve the Order and they were of no use to me. If I didn't kill them, the clones would've or they could've been put on a transport by a Jedi and managed to escape only to have become a potential problem later on. I'd rather deal with them now than maybe- _possibly_ deal with them in the future. I've never been known for my patience and I wasn't about to risk it with _them_.

I'll soon have my own youngling to worry about, I don't need to add any more to that list. If they're not _mine_ , then they're useless to me.

Kicking myself mentally for _once_ again going off track in my mind, I continue.

"That is my sole ambition, Master." It really is, restoring peace and order is what I've been working on for the last three years. It's what both Padmé and _I_ have been working on for the last three years, end the war so we could be together more, instead of just- _maybe_ a few times a year.

Something suddenly happens, but I'm not exactly sure what it is _that's_ happening. The hologram must sense it too, for the shadow that was once a man I deeply admired, tilts his head and the mockery of a smile that was there rapidly turns into a scowl.

 _"Lord Vader,"_ the shadow says, his voice no longer that paternal grandfatherly voice that I remember. It's hard even remembering _this_ man was the same one who has always looked out for me and helped me when I was in need of guidance. He was obviously guiding me to this point, to _use_ me. But I don't care, the Jedi used me too and I _chose_ to become his apprentice, I never _chose_ to become Obi-Wan's. _"I sense a disturbance in the Force- you may be in danger."_

I sense it too but grinning ferally to myself, I'm not in any _real_ danger. Glancing back out the window, I see the skiff that I know so well and feel the Force presence of Padmé onboard. The only thing I'm in danger of, is _perhaps_ being kissed to death.

And that kind of death would be well worth it.

I keep that thought to myself though and reply, "how _should_ I be in danger, Master?"

 _"I cannot say,"_ the hologram says. _"But the danger is real; be mindful."_

 _Obi-Wan could've told me as much!_ I mentally sneer, keeping that thought to myself as I steal another glance at Padmé's ship.

"I will my Master, thank you." _For nothing!_

The transmission ends and I stand back to my feet, clasp my hands behind my back and turn to look out the window as Padmé's ship comes down for a landing next to my starfighter. The sneer that was on my mind a moment ago is now on my lips and in my eyes.

 _You're the one who should be mindful, my Master. I_ am _a disturbance in the Force._

Padmé lands her ship successfully next to mine and I spend a moment letting go of my hate, my anger and the fear that I once felt more than anything else in the galaxy that is _now_ nothing more than dust under my boots. I begrudgingly welcome back the facade of the man I once was, the facade that is the man she knows.

The man that _is_ Anakin Skywalker.

I let Anakin Skywalker's love flow through me.

I let Anakin Skywalker's glad smile come to my lips.

I let Anakin Skywalker's youthful energy bring a joyous bounce to my step and trot over to the entrance, over the mess of corpses and severed body parts.

I'll meet her outside and that is where I'll keep her, I doubt she'd approve of the _redecorating_ I did in the main control center. _And after all, there's no arguing taste._

I grin to myself and then go outside to meet my heavily pregnant but _still_ beautiful wife.

* * *

Padmé stumbles down the ship and into my strong arms the second I arrive at her ship on the landing pad.

Maybe _Master_ was right, something _is_ wrong here.

Nevertheless, I try my best to soothe her. With my arms wrapped around her tightly, I bring my lips down to her hair and lightly kiss her. The smell of her is intoxicating and the feel of her in my arms- everything is right in the galaxy.

Well, _almost_. There is still the reason why she's _here_ when I specifically requested and even made her _promise_ me that she'd remain home until I returned. Last I remember, this is _not_ home, _and_ she's crying.

 _Why?_

"Anakin, my _Anakin_!" She shivers against my chest. "I've been so _frightened_."

Again, _why?_

"Shh. Shh, it's alright." I stroke her hair and back in soothing motions until I feel her trembling begin to fade and then I cup her chin with my mechno-hand and force her to look up at me. "You never need to worry about me. Don't you understand? No one can hurt me. No one will _ever_ hurt either of _us_."

"It wasn't that my love- it was _oh, Anakin!_ He said such terrible things about you!"

I smile down at her beautiful face. "About _me_? Who would want to say bad things about _me_?" I begin to laugh without humor. "Who would _dare_?"

"Obi-Wan." She says, sucking all of the air out of the atmosphere with that one word. The word that is the name of my _former_ Master, the man that's been lying to me and holding me back since he became my _Master_ , all of those years ago. "He said- he told me you turned to the _dark_ side. That you murdered Jedi- even the _youngling's_!"

Telling her the truth that I _did_ do all of those things probably wouldn't help matters right now. Leave it to Obi-Wan to interfere with my marriage, with my _life_! Once I get my hands on that son of a rancor, I'll make him regret the moment he _ever_ met me.

First things first.

"Obi-Wan's _alive_?" I'm barely aware of my voice dropping an octave, going colder than ice. I'm barely aware of the shiver going down the base of Padmé's spine, but she's still in my arms and I could feel it.

"Y-yes, he said he was looking for you..."

"Did you tell him where I am?"

" _No,_ Anakin! He wants to _kill_ you! I didn't tell him anything- I _wouldn't_!"

"Too bad."

"Anakin what-"

I cut her off. " _He's_ a traitor, Padmé! He's an _enemy_ of the state! He _has_ to die."

"Stop it!" She demands, pulling out of my embrace and instead placing her small hands on my arms as if that'll change anything. "Stop talking like that... you're frightening me!"

"You're not the one who needs to be afraid."

"It's like- it's like-" she starts crying again, the tears flowing down her face as she puts distance between us. I make no move to change that. "I don't even know who you _are_ anymore."

She's right, she _doesn't_ know who I am anymore. I'm barely aware of _who_ I am. One thing that's never changed though is my love for her, I just have a different set of tools now. One set of tools that _aren't_ being bound behind my back.

"I'm the _man_ who _loves_ you." I remind her through clenched teeth. How can she _ever_ think otherwise? "I'm the man who would do _anything_ to protect you." Like turn to the dark side _and_ slaughter Jedi. "Everything I've done, I've done for _you_!"

" _Anakin-_ " she swallows- hard, her voice sounding smaller and younger than I've ever heard it. Horror is the feeling she gives off through the Force. _Horror_ for what I've done. "What _have_ you done?" Her tone tells me she doesn't really want to know. She's probably better off _not_ knowing but she's not a baby or a child, she can handle the truth. She doesn't need me to coddle her.

"What I have _done_ is bring peace to the Republic."

Still, she doesn't need to know all of the small details. Not at the moment, maybe later but she's heavily pregnant and I don't need her going into labor _here_.

"The _Republic_ is _dead_." She whispers. "You killed it! You and Palpatine!"

 _That isn't the only thing I killed today..._

"It needed to die."

Her crying becomes sobbing, fresh new tears flow down her beautiful face but instead of putting more distance between us, she cuts the distance and grabs my arms once again with her small hands that barely wrap even a quarter of the way around my biceps.

"Anakin? Can't we just... _go_? _Please_! Let's leave. Together. Today. _Now._ Before you- before something happens-"

"Nothing _will_ happen!" I can see what she's trying to do but it won't work. How many _times_ did I ask the same of her? How many _times_ did I ask her to leave with _me_ for a vacation? Sometimes I even asked her to leave _everything_ behind with _me_.

No _more_ Jedi.

No _more_ Senator.

Just _her_ and _me._

What did she say each time?

You guessed it, _no_.

 _We have duties and responsibilities_ , she would always say.

That was her answer for everything, now the tables have turned and I can't leave everything behind, not when I'm _this_ close to getting what I want- what I _need!_

And that is to prevent my nightmares from coming true. They _won't_ happen again, not if _I_ have anything to say or do about it.

"Nothing _can_ happen." I continue, my voice as cold as ice. "Let Palpatine call himself Emperor. _Let_ him. He can do the dirty work, all the messy, brutal oppression it'll take to unite the galaxy- _unite_ the galaxy against him. He'll make himself into the most hated man in history. And when the time is right, we'll throw him down-"

"Anakin stop-"

"Don't you see? We'll be heroes. The whole galaxy will _love_ us! And then we will rule- _together_." I smile at the thought of that, the beautiful vision playing out before me. Me- Emperor taking my seat on my throne before the Imperial Court, the most powerful people in the galaxy, and before the rest of the people of the galaxy as they watch live on every single HoloNet channel and my wife, my _Empress_ , taking a seat next to me in a throne that is completely identical to my own. It's perfect. "We can make things the way we want them to be."

"Please stop- Anakin, please, _stop_ , I can't stand it-"

Is she talking? I don't hear a single word she says for my attention rests solely on the lone cloaked figure standing on top of the ramp of Padmé's skiff. Apparently _this_ is the danger I've been warned about by my Master, he couldn't sense it was Kenobi. Neither could I. He must've cloaked his presence in the Force and waited before making his presence known.

The first thing that comes to my mind is: _she_ betrayed me.

And _that_ is the only possibility I allow myself to focus on as that ice cold, pristine mountain top comes back to me and the power that comes along with it.

I'm not the man that _he_ knew.

I'm not the Apprentice _he_ trained.

I'm not the _Jedi_ he fought side by side with during the Clone Wars.

I'm Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith and these _two_ are about to become acquainted with him.

" _You_." I snarl, my voice going beyond even my own recognition as the dark side floods my body and permeates outwards.

"Padmé." Kenobi shouts. "Move away from _him_!"

She isn't going anywhere. Neither is he, nowhere except for the place where dead Jedi go.

" _Obi-Wan!_ " She whirls about, finally noticing the invited guest. How nice of her to bring him here... for me to kill him. It would be nicer, however, if she told me she brought him instead of lying to me and pretending now to not know he was onboard the whole time. _"No!"_

Like me, she knows what's about to happen. One of us are about to die and that one isn't going to be me.

My focus is back on the woman that betrayed me. " _You_ ," I growl, letting her hear my anger, my disappointment. "You brought him here!"

She turns back around, her brown eyes landing on my amber, the dark side making its beautiful presence known. She shivers. "Anakin?"

" _Padmé_!" Obi-Wan shouts again. "He's not who you think he is! He _will_ harm you!"

Through clenched teeth, I growl. "I would thank you for this, if it were a gift of love."

She shakes her head, backing away from me. Her voice trembles as she tries to talk herself out of this mess she found herself in. "No... Anakin- _no_ -"

She's lied to me enough today. "Palpatine was right." Shaking my head, I continue. "Sometimes it is the closest who cannot see. I loved you too much, Padmé but you obviously don't feel the same way."

Making a fist, she reaches for her neck finding herself unable to breathe. Now she knows how it feels. I've been dying since those nightmares started again, everywhere I went, the only thing I would see and hear is her screaming for me on her deathbed but I was unable to help her. I've had to watch her die every night for the last three months and while I've worked my ass off and sacrificed _everything_ to save her, she goes and betrays me.

Betrays me and _our_ family.

Was Master right when he made those insinuations about Padmé and Obi-Wan being too close or was he just trying to put a wedge between us? Was I blinded by what I _thought_ was our love to see with any real clarity? Was I simply not seeing what I didn't _want_ to see?

I destroy those thoughts like I destroyed that dragon, grabbing them in my hand and crushing them into dust. It's no matter. My vision won't happen the way I saw it, I'll make damn sure of it by killing Kenobi.

"Let her go, Anakin!"

Obi-Wan's words go right through me. In one ear and out the other, my name isn't Anakin. I'm not the man he knew.

Anakin is _dead_.

"Let her _go_!"

" _Never_!"

She collapses, her feet giving up under her and she falls backwards. Using the Force, I reach out and soften the fall, making sure she doesn't hit her head or twist and land on her belly.

Her heartbeat is still strong, she's just unconscious. Unconscious but alive.

Unconscious not because of my Force choke but because of the man that used to be my Master. The man that made my wife betray me.

"You did _this_!" I snarl, taking my eyes off of my wife and staring down the vile Jedi. "You turned her against me!"

"You've done that yourself," he counters, walking down the ramp.

I don't even give him any warning or time, my cloak is shrugged off, my lightsaber hums to life as I pull it off my belt and thumb the activation button and jump in the air until I am a meter before him and then I start to swing.

* * *

 **A/N: Duh... Duh... Duhhhh...**

 **Sorry, but this is where I've decided to end chapter one. I hate cliff hangers too but I assure you that you'll like what I got planned for chapter two and I assure you, that it'll be worth the wait. It's going to be quite a bit longer than this chapter and will have a whole fleshed out fight scene with a totally alternate ending and if you've read the original Dark Emperor, it'll be completely different.**

 **This is going to be a Dark Skywalker story... or a Dark Vader story and this Vader is going to be _really_ dark. This'll be a true Sith story, and this Vader will become the Sith (Force-sensitive) that he was supposed to be when he reaches his full potential (which he _will_ reach). You may wonder why Padmé would ever want to be with this Anakin/Vader because she's made it clear that she's against him from what she said already but I've already taken that into account and have my plans for that.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this opening chapter! If you did please follow, favorite and review! Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I apologize for the wait, and am going to keep this note short. I was a bit stuck on this, but it all came to me tonight and I typed out every single word tonight. This chapter is dark, like really, on the fence with M rated content for violence _dark_. If you can't handle that, then you may not want to read. I'm really proud of it and hope you are too, if you can handle some badass suitless Darth Vader action...and be warned, a lot happens here. **

**Without further ado...**

* * *

 **Dark Emperor: Chapter 2**

* * *

My first swing is parried to the side as Obi-Wan quickly ignites his own azure blue lightsaber and brings it up to defend himself. I'd expect nothing less from him, he was always a master at form III, he would just parry my blows until I begin to tire and then he would go on the offensive and lecture me about patience and lightsaber combat.

We've practiced together for thousands and _thousands_ of hours. We know each other's lightsaber dueling abilities better than I know my own wife's body.

But I'm _not_ the man he used to spend these thousands and thousands of hours dueling with.

 _That_ was Anakin Skywalker.

 _I'm_ Darth Vader.

And I'm _not_ afraid of _him_.

He does nothing but block my strikes, parry my swings, this is all he _can_ do, for _I_ am in control of this duel and there's _nothing_ he can do about that.

Blue clashes with blue.

White showers spark when our blades meet and I keep at it, not allowing him to breathe for even a moment.

He gives ground, something I'm used to him doing as he leads us back towards the control center where I've slain the whole Separtist leadership. He's trying to put space between us, trying to buy time to regroup and bring himself to do what's necessary.

We both know he doesn't have what it takes to kill me, whether he wants to admit it or not, he cares too much about me and that is a weakness of his that I'm _more_ than willing to exploit.

Any combat, regardless of the kind, always has a mental component and a mental battle could have more of an affect than the physical battle itself.

Physically, we both know I'll win. Anakin was able to defeat him seven out of the last ten times in the last year of training between the Jedi Knight and Jedi Master.

But I'm not that _same_ Knight, I'm a Sith now and Obi-Wan will learn the difference. I have new tools on my belt, so to speak and I'm not afraid to use them.

I'm not afraid of the _dark side of the Force_ and that is something that _he_ and the rest of the galaxy will discover.

The blast door slides open and Obi-Wan steps back into the control center. He doesn't even look down, his eyes stay locked on mine as he sidesteps and steps over the dismembered corpses as I force him through the doors and into the next room, a conference room.

I look around the room as I swing my saber at him, in every which way, up high, down low, at his midriff, overhead, one handed jabs aimed for his torso and he manages to perfectly deflect or parry every swing and jab.

The room is large, a durasteel table rests in the middle of the room, twelve chairs sit around it, datascreens rest on the walls with various data displayed on them, under the screens are various controls that must control the shields and various machines outside.

My saber keeps jabbing, stabbing, swinging, and slicing at Kenobi, he's not as young as he used to be and he doesn't have more energy than me. If I can wear him down, I'll be able to finish him off a lot sooner, and finally be able to slide my saber through his neck, decapitating him.

The thought doesn't even sicken me, it does the exact _opposite_ actually. It excites me, it _unlocks_ something inside of me that doesn't even shy away from thinking what I'm thinking. It just gives me more power and allows me to do what needs to be done without having any second thoughts.

Our blades keep swinging, and I see a gap in Obi-Wan's defense. His eyes may be alternating between myself and my lightsaber, but he's forgetting something and I remind him as I hold my saber one handed, and with my left hand, I send him flying backwards with a Force push.

He crashes into the wall, then slides down to the floor. His lightsaber clatters to the floor, falling from his grasp. I see him reach out for it, I do the same and beat him to the punch, sending his lightsaber flying behind me and through the doorway.

Obi-Wan pants, breathing heavily trying to regain his breath from the blow he took. He's already sweating, his auburn hair matting to his head and forehead. He runs his hand through his hair and makes a move to stand. I flick my wrist and send him falling back down, having pulled his feet out from under him.

"You've underestimated me," I keep my lightsaber ignited and let the tip of my blade burn into the floor. The acrid smell reaches my nostrils, I inhale deeply, not minding the smell in the least. "You should've stayed out of _this_. Now you'll die, and what have you accomplished?"

I know he won't give up this easy, it's not in his character to just surrender, not without a plan and I'm not accepting surrenders today. My guard is raised, just like the hairs on the back of my neck.

He doesn't even try to stand, what's he going to try to go all _Negotiator_ on me? Try to get me to see _reason_? To see what I did was _wrong_? To bring me back to the _light_? Well, if he is, he can save his breath. I'm doing what I _have_ to do, what I _want_ and _need_ to do. "I'm a _Jedi_ , Anakin-"

Nothing but _rage_ floods through my veins at the word, at the name of my _former_ self coming out of his mouth and without even knowing how I'm doing it, he screams as blue lightning crashes first into his chest, then surrounds him, _penetrates_ him and sends him crashing back into the wall as the lightning continues to strike him.

I look down, wide eyed, and see the lightning coming from the fingertips of my left hand, my _organic_ hand. I've known it was possible, I've known it was a Sith power, but I didn't know how to do it...and _now_ I do.

The morbid fascination elates me, knowing that _I'm_ capable of causing such pain and destruction on another being. Choking someone with the Force is one thing, electrocuting them with lightning? It's... _electrifying_ , no pun intended.

Obi-Wan falls flat on his back, his whole body convulsing, writhing. I can feel the sweet coldness seep deep into my bones, chilling me to the core and I welcome the frozen tundra, the _darkness_. Over the screams and the sound of the lightning, I hear a slight _whir_ and the familiar noise has me looking down at my right mechno-arm just in time for me to watch my hand open against my will and the lightsaber fall from my grasp and fly towards Obi-Wan.

His right hand is extended, and just as the lightsaber is about to reach him, I switch targets, shooting lightning at my lightsaber and sending it off course. I don't even watch to see where it goes, Obi-Wan does, and I use that time to run over to him and kick the life out of him with my boot colliding into his abdomen.

His breath leaves him in a _whoosh_ and his body curls in around the pain. His hands locking around my legs, I let him think he actually has me trapped and fall forward, my knees landing right on his side. The sickening _crunch_ of his bone shattering accompanies the fall and he screams as loud as I ever heard him scream before.

Good. He's beginning to feel the pain he endured on _me_ by forcing me to see the horror on my wife's face as I wrapped the Force around her slender neck because of _his_ actions. He made my wife _betray_ me and he'll suffer for it, worse than he already is.

I slowly stand back to my feet, he looks up at me with his light blue eyes and I see pleading in them. He's asking me for mercy. Why should I give him anything less than the opposite? I can't think of a reason and shake my head, snarling down at him and land another sickening blow on him with my boot kicking right back into his rib cage where I hear more bones crunching.

He's coughing up blood now, his arms wrapped around his ribs, his legs laying flat out before him, completely unprotected and that's where I target next, stomping with all of my _might_ right down on his left knee cap.

 _"Anakin! Please!"_

 _That name again!_ "I'M _NOT_ ANAKIN!" I roar, the whole room shaking under my turbulent emotions and the lights hanging from two poles connected to the ceiling above the conference room table, fall and crash onto the table. I pay them no mind, the blue electricity building up in my hand, the lightning visibly jumping between my fingertips before I direct it at Obi-Wan.

The lightning jumps onto it's directed target and I pour _all_ of my dark emotions into the beam, watching as his skin appears to become transparent under my attack, showing off his skeleton. My lips curl into a sadistic smirk, and I'm so focused on my new power that I miss my lightsaber jumping from wherever it landed into Obi-Wan's palm, where he catches the Sith lightning on the ignited plasma.

I don't let up, instead I pour _more_ of my anger, hatred, pain and outright rage into the lightning and I can see the effects it has on him. So long as I can keep this up for a little while longer, maybe thirty or so seconds, he'll be left defenseless. I can see the strain on his features from the toll my attack on him had, bloods pooling from his mouth, dripping down into his beard and onto the floor. His left leg is clearly broken at the knee cap from where I stomped on it, and several of his ribs are undoubtedly broken.

The fact that this man used to be the closest man I had to a brother, a father figure even, doesn't register in my mind. I classified him as an enemy, not only one of my own for what he did to me and my family, but also an enemy of the state. He _has_ to die, there's no other way around that.

He's too strong to be left alive, if anyone can ever find a way to defeat me, it'd be _him_. He knew the old me too well, and he knows too much.

He's a liability that has to die. There are no _ifs_ , _ands_ or _buts_ about it.

Twenty second later, the lightsaber deactivates, falls out of his grasp and a nice dose of lightning hits him square in the chest. I stop my attack and call my lightsaber to me, it lands in the palm of my mechno-hand and I hold it there tight.

"You're _pathetic_ ," like earlier, I barely even recognize my own voice. It's menacing, low, _cold_ , there's no other way to really describe it. "I was expecting a better fight, even the _younglings_ fought better than _you_..."

The Force screams a warning out to me and I duck on instinct, barely dodging a chair that nearly hit me square in the back. The next one hits me and I fall forward, landing on my knees and the fist of my gloved mechno-hand, the lightsaber securely in my grip.

I can feel more coming my way and knowing there are twelve of them, and two that already flew my way, I look back, turn and hold my left hand out to shield myself with a Force barrier.

The rest of the chairs bounce off the barrier surrounding me harmlessly, but in the process of holding them off, I had to take my eyes off of Obi-Wan. Turning to where he was, I find him gone and the door leading outside open.

I growl and jump to my feet, ignite my lightsaber and take off in pursuit of him. He couldn't have gotten far and he left a blood trail behind, small drops of blood lead out the door and as I run out it, my breath leaves me and I'm knocked down on my ass and back.

Obi-Wan's above me, a chair in his hand and the meanest look on his face that I've ever seen. He raises it above his head and drives it down on me, I roll out of the way, only the very top of the back of the chair hitting my side. I push myself up and my mechno-hand, once again opens and my lightsaber flies to him.

There's nothing I could do to send it in another direction this time, he's too close to me and he catches it, ignites it and swings it my way, trying to take my head off. I dodge it by ducking and we're so close, I run towards him and tackle him off his feet.

 _Whoosh_ is all I hear from him and we both go crashing down onto the rough, rocky surface. My lightsaber clatters out of his grasp and away from us, he tries to call it back, but I drive the forearm of my mechno-arm right into his face and a sickening _thud_ sound accompanies my blow.

My arm will definitely need some work when this fight is over, but that'll have to wait. There'll be time for that later, now...I'm a _little_ busy.

He's still bleeding from his mouth from my earlier assault, his face is beginning to swell and is bruised. I add to the damage by swinging my arm back and elbowing him in the side of the face, right in the cheek.

I'm sitting on him, legs on either side of him, holding him down to the ground. He tries to throw me off, tries to hit me with his good knee, and tries to throw a punch at me, but each time, I jab him in the ribs with my knees and he gives up on his attempts.

"I'm sorry it has to come to this, _Obi-Wan_ , but I can't let you get in the way of my plans or intrude in my marital affairs again." I summon my lightsaber to my outstretched hand and just as it's about to land in my palm, Obi-Wan in a burst of energy, sends me flying backwards.

I land my ass on a rock and roll off, dangerously close to a cliff leading right down to the molten lava. I get to my feet and move away from the intense heat that even has _me_ sweating now and I can feel my long, wavy blond hair sticking to my head and the sides of my face. I brush a strand out of my eye and tuck it behind my ear, then get back into the fight.

Obi-Wan has my lightsaber now and it's ignited in both of his hands, his hands out before him, and he's standing on his feet. I can tell he's trying not to show how much he's hurting, but I can feel it in the Force and see it in how he's holding himself up, favoring his right leg to keep off his left leg as much as he can. He's also leaning forward, hunching over in pain that he's trying to conceal.

I'm weaponless, but not completely defenseless as my earlier acts of aggression showed. I know he's expecting me to shoot lightning at him, knowing he wouldn't be able to withstand the intensity for long, but now he'd be expecting it and ready for it.

He thinks he knows me well and I play into that, let the lightning jump around my left hand, his eyes narrow down on my hand and I see him readying himself for the attack. Then I pinch my forefinger and thumb of my mechno-hand, directing the Force around his throat and close them closer together.

He shakes his head, the veins in his neck bulging out of his skin and his right hand goes to his throat. He's a Jedi Master, I obviously know this and know he's more than capable of defending himself against such an attack, but it caught him offguard and I use that to my advantage.

As he's wrapping the Force around his neck, trying to get under my Force grip, the lightning still dances on my fingertips and finds a new target- his chest. It hits him square in the chest and sends him staggering backwards. I pull my lightsaber from his grip, it flies where it belong, into my hand and I waste no time running to him, igniting my lightsaber, using the Force to enhance my speed and drill the lightsaber right into his chest.

He leans forward, his hand on my shoulder, trying to hold himself up. Blood lands on my vest, he coughs some up and I shut off my lightsaber. His knees give up on him, he falls to the ground and lands on his back.

His eyes are lighter, paler than ever, nearly lifeless, unfocused. I can feel the Force leaving his body, getting weaker and weaker by the second. The rocky surface is visible through the hole in his chest.

"I'm sorry," he coughs, wheezing, his voice weak. "I let you down...should've seen what Palpatine was doing...to you. I'm sorry..."

His eyes don't close, they stay wide open and stay locked on me with their unfocused and now completely lifeless look. I can feel his presence fade, the place where he existed in my mind cut off, and he becomes one with the Force.

Mixed emotions run through me as I look down at him, what I keep reminding myself of though is that if I didn't kill him, Padmé would die and she _can't_ die. Not after _everything_ I did today, not after everything I sacrificed for _her_ , for _us_.

I love her too much to let her go, she's _all_ I have left and now we're going to be _parents_. I'll make damn sure she's there for our little girl, something that's been a debate between us, she thinks it's a boy and wants to name him Luke, I think- no I _know_ , we're having a girl and her name will be Leia.

The darkness recedes from me just thinking about it and that's when I feel _another_ darkness, a darkness that's so _cold,_ I shiver for a moment then let it wash over me, _comfort_ me and the presence is so dark that it's like looking down into a bottomless pit.

It's Palpatine or Sidious, I shake my head and bend down to Obi-Wan running my fingers over his eyes, closing them before raising his body with the Force and disposing of it in the molten lava.

He lost my respect, my trust, and I'm no longer a _Jedi_. I'm not about to give him a Jedi funeral, his body is nothing but an empty husk now anyway, with his presence having gone back into the Force.

His body sinks into the river of fire and disappears from view. Now he's _really_ gone, and I can feel an emptiness for where he once resided within me. I shake my head, turn around and hook my lightsaber onto my belt as I walk back into the building, through the conference room where chairs are thrown all over, and into the control room where the dismembered corpses of the Separatist leadership lie, along with Obi-Wan's lightsaber.

I call it to my palm and look at it, turning it around in the palm of my hand and then hook it onto my belt as well. Call me sentimental or maybe this is me starting a collection of those Jedi I kill, keeping their lightsabers as trophies, as reminders of my victories. I don't know, I just know it feels _right_ , maybe it's the Force?

Regardless, I leave the control room behind and make my way out to the landing pad, and retrieve my cloak on the way and throw it on. Threepio is standing guard at the bottom of the ramp, looking as nervous as a droid could possibly look. Even his voice sounds nervous as I reach him. "Oh, Master Anakin, I am _so_ glad to see you, sir."

My teeth grind at that name again, but I let it slide. It's Threepio here, I'll just reprogram him later. He wouldn't possibly understand, and I know Obi-Wan was just calling me by birth name to mock me, to try and reach the man I once was, but am no more.

If he didn't believe it then, he definitely believed it when I drove my lightsaber into his chest, ending his life.

Padmé will be another problem entirely, but I'm not going to hurt her again. I can't even _believe_ I hurt her in the first place, I just got so mad at seeing Obi-Wan standing there at the top of her skiff's landing ramp, how could she not know he was onboard? Did she know and lie to me, or did he sneak onboard knowing she'd lead him to me?

I seriously hope it's the former, if only because it would at least somewhat justify my reaction, but it would never make what I did, right. Not when she's my wife and carrying _my_ child within her, how could I have let myself forget that?

The feelings within me only get more turbulent as I reach the medical bay of her skiff where she's lying on a medical bed and looks to be dead. Startled, I reach out with the Force and breathe, she's still alive. She may not be conscious at the moment, but her pulse is strong, I grip her hand and hold it in my mechno-hand, feel her pulse in her wrist with my organic hand.

It's still weak, but stronger than it was after I choked her. " _Ani_?" Her eyes flutter open, her pulse speeding up, "You're okay."

I nod, relieved to hear her voice and see her beautiful brown eyes. I bring her hand up to my lips and kiss the back of it, then drop it back to her side. "I'm fine," I assure her, "how are you?"

She shrugs. "Better now that I _see_ you," she squeezes my hand, "and _feel_ you."

Her voice isn't as strong as it normally is, it's more like a rasp and I know it's because of what I did to her and I can't help feeling guilty, sick to my stomach for what I did and _could've_ done. "I'm so sorry, Angel, I never, _ever_ meant to hurt you." I sink to my knees in overwhelming agony and lie my forehead down on her forearm.

Her hand sifts through my hair, she tugs on it gently, making me look up at her. "But you _did_ , Anakin." There are tears in her eyes, it guts me, now that I realize what I've _really_ done to her. "I'm _pregnant_ , with _your_ child." She rubs her belly, and I want to too, but don't feel like I have the right.

My hands are stained in blood, maybe not literally, but figuratively, and that's not something that's going to go away or something I actually feel guilty about. I only feel guilty for doing what I did to _her_.

My wife, my angel, my everything.

I wipe away my tears. "How is she?"

She smiles, sadly. " _He's_ fine."

I may have changed rather drastically, and literally overnight, but my love for her has _never_ changed and _never_ will. Jedi say Sith can't love and maybe Sith say that too, but I've never been defined as a textbook case of anything, I've never been an ordinary Jedi and I won't be an ordinary Sith.

I'm one of a kind, I'm the Chosen One. "Good," I place my organic hand on hers, over her belly but don't let my skin touch her belly. "Get some rest for me, we're going to go back to Coruscant, and get you looked at."

She nods, her eyes closing and I can feel her go right to sleep. This time she's conscious, just sleeping and I feel better, then feel the gentle mind probe from my Master and reach out to him. He's landing, I turn to leave my wife in the safety of the medical bay and just as I'm about to leave, she surprises me by saying, "what happened to Obi-Wan?"

I don't even look back, but can feel a weak gaze on my back. I shake my head and walk out, knowing she'll know what that means and I close the door behind me, leave the skiff and make my way over to the Sentinel-class landing craft that's landing on the other side of the landing pad, on the other side of my starfighter.

Clones dressed in the white and red armor of Coruscant Shock Troopers disembark as soon as the landing ramp descends and touches the durasteel surface of the landing pad. They take up their positions on either side of the ramp and hold their blaster rifles against the chest plates of their armor.

My Master descends, his oversized black cloak enshrouding him in darkness. His cowl covers his head and face, only his acidic yellow eyes being visible.

I kneel down on one knee like a _respectful_ Apprentice and bow my head, as I say, "My Master."

He pulls his cowl back and his hawkish eyes take me in and I can feel him examine me through the Force for injuries. "Lord Vader," _that name! That's what I want to hear people call me for the rest of my life._ "What happened?" He motions for me to rise.

I do, and tell him everything. I tell him about my fight with Obi-Wan that resulted in his death, but choose to keep the Sith lightning to myself, I even tell him what I did to Padmé. If he's going to help me save her from my nightmares then he has to know _everything,_ about _her_ at least.

When I'm done, I can't help but feel glee radiating off of him, along with approval. I even felt the glee and approval when I told him about choking my wife, why would he do that?

"I need your help," his eyes bore into mine, at my plea. "You promised me you would help me save her, I held up my end."

His presence in the Force gives away nothing, neither does his features, but he hesitates and that catches my attention. He better not be thinking of betraying me.

May the Force help him if he does...

He extends his gnarly old hand. "Bring me to her," I nod and lead the way. He follows behind me and despite not being able to see him, I can feel his disappointment and can feel him reaching out to her in the Force, probing her and...her belly. Whatever he senses, surprises him and I can feel a simmering anger, he _hates_ her.

It's more than that though, it's not only because she opposes him in politics, but because of me...my veins chill at the realization and everything I did, at _his_ command, _suggestion_ , suddenly makes sense.

He knows my wife well enough and he tried to drive a wedge between us, insinuating an affair between her and Obi-Wan, even using me against her in politics when she came into his office with some of the delegates of the Delegation of 2000. She was furious at me for taking his side, we always stood on different sides when it came to politics and that's because we grew up completely different.

She was born into a privileged family, on a beautiful democratic planet while I was born into slavery on a desolate planet that didn't have any laws other than those that the Hutts instituted to support their slave-based culture.

 _Something that'll change when I'm Emperor, you can count on that._

Palpatine had the same opportunities as Padmé, born on the same planet, and had much of the same life in politics.

Yet... _his_ life parallels mine more than it does hers. We're two peas in a pod, and he used that knowledge to start trouble between us. Unfortunately for him, there can only be _one_ Sith Master and I've been a slave, an _Apprentice_ for too long, and his betrayal is finally coming to light.

It's time for me to be the Master, to take my _rightful_ place in the galaxy as it's _Emperor_. It's my birthright, my destiny and I can see that now.

Just like I can see Palpatine being the cause of Padmé's death, she's the only one that can keep a wedge between us and he won't accept me being with her.

He never had any intention of helping me save her, he even told me he didn't know _how_. Maybe his Master did know and maybe he knows too, and just won't help me.

Nevertheless, he'll only ever pose a danger to my wife, my angel, my _child_ and I can't allow him to harm them. I won't allow him to harm them, I could still feel him probing my wife, focusing most of his attention on her belly, his concentration isn't on me.

Now may be the _only_ time I can do this, and I _need_ to do it. Fingering my lightsaber, I wrap my hands around it and before he can see where my hand is or feel my intentions through the Force, I turn around facing him, jab my lightsaber hilt into his gut and ignite my blade.

The azure blue plasma cuts right through his cloak, his garments and his flesh and I see it sticking out from the otherside of his body. His face contorts in pain, and disbelief.

He didn't see it coming. "Why?" He croaks.

I raise the blade through his flesh just a little bit and then deactivate my blade. "Betrayal is the way of the Sith, isn't it _Master_?" He falls to the durasteel ground much like Obi-Wan did earlier, but I don't look down.

The clones saw what happened and now they're a liability, even if they swore loyalty to me, they saw what I just did to Palpatine and can tell others. I can't allow that to happen, they raise their blaster rifles and start to fire.

I ignite my blade and deflect the bolts, sending them back to whence they came. Clones fall to the ground, dead. More bolts come my way, and I send them back to where they came too, some hit their targets and some miss. Half of them are dead, I keep moving their way, not slowing down or stopping. Two clones charge at me, trying to whip me with their rifles, I slice right through their blaster rifles and then I slice right through them.

They fall down, dead.

Three more left.

One removes a thermal detonator from their utility belts, activates it and throws it at me. I don't even flinch, just wave my hand and send it back in his direction. He tries to dodge it, but I lock my grip on it and make sure it blows him up.

It does.

Two left.

One of them fires at me, he's horrified, but determined. I send the bolt right back at him, it hits him square in the helmet and burns through the plastoid helmet and right into the flesh of his face.

He falls to the ground, dead.

One left.

He drops his blaster rifle and surrenders, knowing he obviously can't kill me. "I surrender!" I walk closer to him and deactivate my blade.

Once I'm before him, I nod. " _Kneel_ ," he does. "Do you swear loyalty to the Sith, and to _me_ , in particular?"

I can feel his emotions, he's practically screaming them into the Force. "Yes, General Skywalker."

The ice cold mountain top seeps back into my bones. " _It's Lord Vader_."

Confusion sweeps through him. "Yes... _Lord Vader_."

Giving him the appearance of satisfaction, I raise my hand, motioning for him to stand. "Then, welcome to the club." I wrap my arm around his shoulder and pull him into a tight one-armed embrace, I raise my other hand towards his neck and press the hilt of my lightsaber against the soft materials there. "It's called, _you saw too much and are a liability_." I thumb the activation button and the plasma tears through his neck and at an upward angle going right through his head.

His body slumps, only being held up by me. I press the button again and the lightsaber deactivates, then I let him fall down, dead like everyone else on this Force forsaken planet besides myself, Padmé...and _Palpatine_ , but that'll be rectified very, _very_ soon.

Making my way back to him, I see his slumped form. He hasn't even moved, his eyes are still open and I can feel his emotions through the Force. I revel in them, letting his dark emotions feed mine.

"You _fool_ ," he growls, sensing my approach. "With my death, you _only_ assure Padmé's. I hope you can live without her." He quickly raises his hand, blue lightning shoots out from his fingertips, I raise my lightsaber, ignite it and absorb the energy.

His other hand is raised too, and he fires a double dose my way. I've seen him shoot lightning earlier today, and this is a much weaker attempt than it was against _Windu_. I'm sure all of that fighting took a toll on his old form, when's the last time he really _had_ to fight?

Me, I'm a different story, altogether.

I've been doing nothing but fighting nonstop for the last three years, and the only thing it does for me is give me an adrenaline rush and make me want _more_.

His feeble attempt at killing me, fails. Big time. I deactivate my blade once again, and stand beside him, looking down his old, haggard form. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You're _no_ match for me." If looks could kill, I'd be dead like he's going to be shortly, but they can't and I smile down at him, enjoying the overwhelming darkness he's enshrouding us in.

"You know," I say, in a sing-song voice. "When I told you about what happened, I told you everything...well, everything _except_ for the new trick I learned on accident." Lightning jumps from my fingertips, he looks up in horror and shakes in agony as the lightning jumps from my fingertips and engulfs him.

An acrid odor invades my nostrils, this time it's human flesh and that doesn't smell as good as the burning durasteel from the conference room floor. It makes me scowl, and I stop. Smoke rises from his body, he's wheezing.

Shaking my head at him, I kneel down and reach my hand out, gripping his forehead in a tight grip. "Now, I'll take what you _promised_ me, and if I don't find it, I'll tear your mind apart until you're a vegetable and then I'll put you out of your misery and send you back to whatever hell you rose from."

I close my eyes and reach out with the Force, burrowing it into his mind. His high pitched scream fills the air, I keep my digging and find exactly what he was talking about. He told me the story of Darth Plagueis and how he could save others from dying, it was midichlorian manipulation. I take everything he knew about it from his mind, and keep digging and taking everything related to his knowledge of the Force, the Sith and recent events.

That's all I need to know, since no one else can teach me about the dark side or the Sith after I kill him. And wouldn't you know, what Padmé said earlier makes sense, about Palpatine and myself killing the Republic. He reorganized it into the Empire, making himself the Emperor for life, no shock there.

That should make things easier for me when I stand before the Senate, spin a colorful tale about what happened _here_ and tell them that their _beloved_ Emperor was murdered by a Jedi and that I'll be taking his place. I'm not sure how well that'll be received, but I'm a well respected man and... _Jedi_ , the people love me and I was kept off the Jedi hit list. I'll use all of that to my advantage, as well as my new and old abilities.

Standing back to my feet in satisfaction, I smirk and decide to finish the job. The lightning jumps from my fingertips in such a rush and with such intensity that it kills him instantly and burns his flesh even more.

The smell is even worse, but I'll have to deal with it. I still need him to play the role of _dead_ Emperor, and then my plans can go into motion.

Lifting him up in the Force, he floats to Padmé's skiff and I lower him onto the floor of the cargo bay and lock him inside. He's dead, and can't cause any harm locked away in there.

"Oh, Master _Anakin_." Threepio says, sounding relieved to see me. "May we leave this forsaken planet behind, now, sir?"

I pat his gold plated shoulder. "That's the plan, where's Artoo?"

He nods happily and then turns to look around. "Why, I believe he's in with Mistress Padmé."

I nod and walk up to the medical bay, seeing the door open and Artoo standing beside her bed. He twirps and beeps sadly, his dome camera facing me and then Padmé.

"I know buddy," I cross my arms, lean against the door. "I need you to fly my starfighter back to Coruscant, we need to go to the med center in the Federal District." That's the best med center on the planet with the best medical staff and most modern technology, she'll be best off there.

Artoo beeps in the affirmative and goes to carry out his orders. Once he's gone, I walk closer to Padmé, lean down and kiss her on the forehead. She's asleep, and I have no intention of disturbing her. I leave her be and make my way to the cockpit, firing her up and checking the weapons controls.

I raise the ship into the air and turn it to the right, forty-five degrees so I see the control center and the facility. There's a surveillance camera system within, and it shows what happened. I can't allow the footage to be seen, so I fire and fire and fire some more until the facility is obliterated.

Satisfied that I covered my tracks, I plot a hyperspace course, fly out of orbit of the ashy, volcanic planet and towards the hyperspace lane and pull back the hyperspace lever, we hop into hyperspace and I know that I'm not the same man as I was when I arrived.

When I arrived here, I was still mostly Anakin Skywalker. But I was forged into the flames and came out a different man- a Sith, Lord Vader.

 _Darth Vader._

My amber eyes reflect off the transparisteel, and I grin. Yes, _this_ is who I was always destined to be.

* * *

 **A/N: Well how'd you like that?**

 **I told you a lot happens and I hope it was worth the wait. Some of you may think that duel was a little one sided and that Obi-Wan's stronger than that, but the whole fight scene in ROTS was always meant for Anakin's arrogance to be his downfall. It was bad writing in my opinion, but he had to lose or slip into the lava or something to explain the OT. This story, however, is completely AU and Vader wasn't destined to sentenced to life imprisonment in that suit or to lose the people he sacrificed everything for, in this story.**

 **If you have any ideas or want to see anything/anyone, don't hesitate to shoot me a PM or leave it as a review. Just remember this is a dark family story, a story that's in Darth Vader's sole POV and this family will obviously be a Sith family, this isn't a redemption story.**

 **If you enjoyed this chapter and haven't already, please follow, favorite and review! Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Dark Emperor: Chapter 3**

* * *

The timer on the navicomputer begins to count down audibly. We're just about ready to drop out of hyperspace. I shake myself awake, rub the sleep out of my eyes, and lean forward in the pilot's chair, examining the controls on the dashboard.

 _3...2...1..._

I push the hyperspace lever forward, and the dimension of hyperspace compresses. The stars stretch out like a never ending streak of lines and then decompress and spit us out into real space just outside of Coruscant's atmosphere. Like always, there is a _long_ queue of ships waiting for permission to enter orbit and land. Padmé's skiff, however, is allowed immediate entry with her transponder casting a senatorial code.

" _Welcome back to Coruscant, Senator,_ " A young male voice echoes through the cockpit. " _What is your destination?_ "

I flick the switch and activate the comm. "This is General Skywalker. I have the Senator and Emperor aboard. They're both injured and require _immediate_ medical attention. We're heading to the med center in the Federal District. Have two medical teams prepped and standing by."

Over a trillion beings of all types of galactic species reside on this single planet, all the way down to the depths of the lowest levels. If you don't know _exactly_ who you're looking for, and don't know _exactly_ what their presence feels like, and where _exactly_ they are, chances are you _won't_ be able to find their Force-presence in the never ending sea of beings. A sudden surge of panic, though, gives this guy away, and I follow that presence back to the building I know to be the Coruscant Space Traffic Control Headquarters. I've been there before. Several times, in fact. _"Right away, General. I'll notify them immediately, Sir!"_ His panicked voice assures me.

Feeling him in the Force, I can see the thoughts running through his mind, and if he tells everyone, or _anyone,_ for that matter, about the Emperor, then things beyond my control can - and probably _will_ \- happen. And, I can't let that happen. This is something I _need_ to control. It has to be dealt with sensitively, carefully. Stretching out with the Force, I find his signature and manipulate his mind, commanding, "You will not tell _anyone_ about the Emperor or the Senator. You will instead notify the med center of two high priority VIP patients, and ensure their medical teams are standing by upon my arrival."

 _"I will not tell anyone about the Emperor or Senator. I_ _will instead notify the med center of two high priority VIP patients, and ensure their medical teams are standing by upon your arrival."_ His glazed over voice echos over the comm.

I nod approvingly, glad that I thought of mind tricking him before it was too late. There's no telling _what_ kind of damage could've been done had I not caught myself there. Last thing I want is some power hungry senator to try and take what is now _rightfully_ mine. I haven't done everything I have in the last day and a half _just_ to get screwed over by some opportunistic politician. "And you will forget this conversation after you carry out your orders, and destroy any recordings made."

He echoes my order again, and I cut off the transmission, plotting a course for the most direct route through the sky traffic to the med center.

* * *

Twenty minutes later we arrive. I lower the landing struts and prepare for landing on the landing pad on the roof of the med center. Two teams of medical professionals are standing by with two hover gurneys, and medical droids standing by with them. I nod, satisfied my orders were carried out to the letter. Once I touch down, with a _perfect_ landing, I unbuckle my crash webbing, stand up out of my seat, and make my way downstairs to the cargo bay and unlock and open the door. Stepping in, I grab the Emperor by the back of his cloak and drag his corpse out into the hall, then hit the button for the landing ramp to lower to the ground.

It does, and I play my part to the hilt. "Hurry! We need help _now!"_

Human doctors begin to board, urgently. "Get me the gurney! _Now_!" One of them orders, his eyes widening as he begins to realize the seriousness of the situation. He checks the Emperor for a pulse. A pulse that he hasn't had for the last several hours, nearly half a day if the chrono on the wall is correct. I leave them to their work and go up the steps to the second floor and make my way to the medical bay of the skiff.

"Ani?" Padmé's soft voice welcomes me, her brown eyes follow me as I enter the medical bay and walk over to stand next to her.

I can't even describe how hearing her voice right now makes me feel. It's like feeling the Force for the first time. "I'm here, Angel." I hold my hand out to her, and she wraps her small soft hand around mine and squeezes. "We're back on Coruscant, at the med center in the Federal District." She nods weakly and tries to stand to her feet. "What the _kriff_ do you think you're doing?" I gently push her back down on the bed and wrap one arm under her legs on the underside of her knees, and wrap my other arm around her back. "I've got you, my love."

She gives me an admonishing look, a look I _know_ to be annoyance at me treating her like she can't take care of herself. We both know I don't think that of her at all. She's by far the strongest woman I know. She just happens to be _nearly_ nine months pregnant with our baby and as big as a bantha. "I know you do." Her words sound raspy and hoarse coming from her abused throat, and they send another pang of guilt through me like a vibroblade to the heart.

After what I did to her, how could she possibly still trust me? Did she forget what I did to her? Has she forgiven me already? Or, does she believe that I would never harm her again? Because Force knows I wouldn't, regardless if she's carrying our child within her or not. I'm not gonna say I haven't hit a woman before. That'd be a lie. I've hit a few women before, but that was always in war, in hand to hand, and lightsaber combat; Asajj Ventress being a prime example. I even Force choked her too, and my hold on her throat was a lot more severe, since she has the Force and could always get out of my hold.

Padmé couldn't. Still, I could _never_ kill her, even if she _did_ betray me. I push that thought roughly out of my mind, and lift Padmé into my strong arms, holding her tightly up against my chest. Her slender arms come to wrap around my neck, and her head drops to my shoulder, and I carry her out into the corridor, down the stairs and down the landing ramp. The team with the Emperor has already gone inside. I'd imagine they're trying to save him, even if its _impossible_ and a complete waste of their time.

But, who am I to stop them? They have to be able to do _everything_ they can think of before they officially declare him dead. He's the Emperor, after all, or _former_ Emperor, I should say.

"Lay her down here," one of the doctors say, patting the gurney. I lower Padmé gently to the gurney and let her go. She keeps her arms wrapped around me and pulls me down to her, molding her lips to mine. She catches me off guard for a moment, and I just stand there shocked, but her lips pull me out of my shocked state, and I return the kiss with urgency, letting her know that I'm still _her_ Ani, her _loving_ husband.

That hasn't changed. And never will, no matter what else happens.

Even if I don't consider myself to be that man anymore.

She lets me go. Our lips part with a soft _pop_ , and she gives me a beautiful smile, one that literally takes my breath away.

"We should get her inside," the same doctor says, ruining the moment between my wife and I.

I nod and grab my wife's hand, and we move inside the turbolift and down to the VIP wing of the med center. We're moved into a private room, and the medical droids start to hook her up to different equipment and machines as directed by the lead physician, a tall, middle-aged gentleman with dark hair graying at the temples, and a thick Corellian accent.

 _Is something wrong?_ I wonder. "What's happening?" I ask them, not caring _who_ tells me, so long as _someone_ tells me what the kriff's happening.

One of the droids answers for them. "Senator Amidala is in labor. Her water has broken," it says, pointing to her wet pants that I hadn't even noticed, nor did she, or if she did, she didn't say anything. "Did you know your water broke, Senator?" The droid asks Padmé, beating me to the punch.

She shakes her head. "No. I mean, I felt _something,_ but I just thought that I... _wet_ myself." Her cheeks redden in embarrassment. I squeeze her hand and smile reassuringly down at her.

We're about to be parents! And, she's worrying about _that_? "Nothing to be embarrassed about, Angel," I assure her.

The nurses in the room get to work, removing her top and placing a medical gown on her first, before removing her boots, lowering her pants and panties and removing them both and draping a sheet over the lower half of her body, and then placing her feet in a set of stirrups to keep her legs spread and bent for the doctor to examine her. She doesn't take her eyes off of me, and I try to keep myself from getting furious that another man is looking at - and touching - my wife down _there_ , even if its _not_ in an intimate manner.

Only _one_ man has ever seen or touched her there before, and that's _me_ , but I keep my temper in check when Padmé squeezes my hand and gives me a reassuring smile. "He's just doing his job, Ani. Trust me, Honey. I'm sure he's delivered _plenty_ of babies before."

I nod, because that's the _only_ reason why I haven't decapitated him yet. But, it doesn't stop me from keeping my eyes firmly locked on the man _and_ what he's doing to my wife's body with his gloved hands. Quickly, I search his mind, my temper momentarily eased by his concentration on his medical duties.

But, even _one_ improper thought crossing his mind will have me pulling my lightsaber off my belt and swinging it through his neck, faster than he can blink. And, I would enjoy every moment of that. "Alright," the doctor says, walking around the gurney and looking down at Padmé. "I've finished my exam, Senator. You're currently five centimeters dilated. We still have some time to go," he looks up at me, giving me a look I can't quite decipher and then back down to Padmé. "You should contact the babies' father, I'm sure he'll want to be here when-"

He stops talking mid sentence, his hands flying up to his throat as he starts choking. An ice cold chill runs through my body at his words. How _dare_ he look at me, _dismiss_ me like I'm vermin, and suggest Padmé contact the babies' father like it can't _possibly_ be me. Did he _not_ see how we interacted when I placed her down on the hover gurney? How could he have missed that kiss?

"Ani! Let him go!" my wife implores me.

I ignore her. My mind is too focused on the slight against me. I let go of her hand and stalk around the gurney until I'm standing right before him and then I let my Force grip on his neck go, and lift him to his feet with my hands on his jacket. "I'm the father, doctor, or am I _invisible_ to you?" How dare he insult me like that!

Fear oozes out of him, and I have every intention of just ending his useless life right now. "I'm-I'm sorry, General." He sputters. "I just didn't think Jedi..."

"Yes, you didn't _think_ ," I interrupt him, my voice soft and lethal. "If you weren't my wife's doctor, I'd end your life as I speak. Fortunately for _you,_ you're still useful to me." I push him back against the wall and retake my position on the other side of the gurney. "Was there anything _else_ , Doctor?"

He shakes his head, vehemently and makes his way for the sliding door, leaving in a hurry.

Padmé levels me with a glare, and I return it. " _What_?"

She shakes her head sadly. "You did that to _me_ , Ani." Guilt twists into my gut again at the reminder. "I tried to forget it, to give you another chance to redeem yourself in my eyes, to _trust_ you...and you go and choke the doctor taking care of me for _no_ reason. I don't know if I can-"

"For no reason?!" I throw my hands in the air. " _Seriously_? He had the nerve to ignore me the whole time and told you to call the father of our child, like _I_ wasn't even here!"

A couple of tears slip from her eyes, fall down her cheek. "How was he supposed to know you're the father?! Jedi aren't _supposed_ to father children!" She may have a valid point, and so did he, but...

"I'm _not_ a Jedi!" Not anymore, and if I have it _my_ way, there won't be _any_ Jedi scum left to teach their perverse beliefs on to the next generation, or to anyone else for that matter.

Padmé looks away from me. I can feel her emotions strongly, as if they were my own, and I _don't_ like what I feel. "Ani, please go...I-I need some time to myself." Her words cut through me like a lightsaber to flesh. "I don't need the added stress right now."

Kriff! She's pregnant, in _labor_ , for Force's sake! Of course she doesn't need to see me choking her doctor like I choked her not too long ago! I nod my head and heed her wishes, even if every fiber in me tells me not to go. "I understand...I'll be outside when you're ready to see me again." It kills me to leave her, but my vision of her dying in childbirth flashes through my mind, and even though I _know_ I changed it by killing Obi-Wan and by being here for her, that doesn't mean I changed _her fate._ Maybe the stress I've just added to her already overly stressful state is what kills her...maybe her death is a self fulfilling prophesy.

There are too many variables, too many unknowns, and when I should be in there holding her hand and trying to be a supportive husband and soon-to-be father, what do I do? I screw things up when she tries to give me a second chance. I'm _such_ a kriffing idiot. Apparently some of Anakin is _still_ in me, my hot-headed temper. Something I can't allow to continue. Being a father will be trying enough, especially if Padmé can't trust me to be alone with our child for fear of me losing my temper and potentially hurting our child like I did her...

The vision of Padmé grasping for an invisible force surrounding her throat, my extended hand applying that pressure to cut off her breathing floats through my mind. Shaking my head, I clear it of the memory as I exit her private room.

If I can't be in there to be with my wife, then I need to do _something_ to keep my mind occupied for the time being, and that's when my need for a plan comes rushing back. I need to check on the status of the Emperor, make sure the medical team doesn't try and tell the galaxy the news. I need to control things.

This is _my_ Empire now, and I intend for it to stay that way.

Grabbing my comlink off my belt, I open it and comm my third speed dial. _"General Skywalker, sir!"_ Captain Rex, the Second-in-Command of my 501st Legion answers.

The familiar voice calms me a little. He's one man I _know_ won't let me down. He's been at my side, fighting with me, for the duration of the Clone Wars and has gained my utmost trust. "Captain, I need a platoon to respond to the VIP wing of the Federal District's Med Center. Have them guard all entrances and exits, and I need all incoming and outgoing communications to be severed until further notice for everyone inside that isn't one of us."

He doesn't question my orders. _"Yes, sir!"_ I end communications, and I have no doubt he'll be here as fast as he can assemble his men, board the gunships, and respond. He's a man much like myself. He'll see to this mission himself to ensure its carried out to my express orders.

In the meantime, I walk down the corridor with purpose to the front desk, and a nurse gives me a startled look before asking in a wavering voice, "H-how can I h-help you, General?" Where before it would be a look of adoration, of frank admiration, now it's close to terrified

She must know what I did to the doctor. Good. That should make things easier for me. Fear is a good motivator to keep people in line. "What is the condition of the other VIP patient that arrived with me?" I don't have to say who it is. I'm sure the whole wing is aware of _that_ VIP's identity, which is _why_ my men need to get here as fast as humanly possible.

 _No one_ will find out the news, outside of this wing, until _I_ wish for them to do so. Nobody will leave, enter, or even communicate with anyone outside this facility until further notice.

She types away on her datapad, and I can feel horror flood her. "He's dead, isn't he?" I ask. She nods, sadly. I just nod, trying to look sad myself and walk away, then turn back to her. "Where is he?"

She looks at the datapad and gives me directions to the operating room where they worked on him. Reaching out with the Force, I could feel the lives of about a dozen or so people inside the room with the deceased Emperor. I enter the room. All eyes fall on me and quickly look away.

There's no possible way they could know what I did to the other doctor, but it's clear they know I was close to the deceased monarch lying on the table before me. The Emperor and myself were known by many to be relatively close. The Emperor would use our relationship to his benefit. And, I'd use it as well, using his connections to further my own goals and help me get things the Jedi refused to give me.

It makes sense _why_ he helped me now. He wanted me to turn to him first, to get closer to him and draw me further away from the Jedi Order, and I'm grateful for that.

I _never_ belonged in that Order. I could never be the Jedi they wanted me to be. That much is clear to me now.

The Sith though, the Sith allow me to be myself and allow me access to power that I _never_ imagined possible before. Palpatine was right about one thing, the Jedi _did_ have a rather narrow dogmatic view of the Force. He was also right that if I wanted to be a wise leader, that I would need to see a larger view of the Force, and I'm already seeing it in a new light...or dark, I should say.

I walk up to the side of the metal operating table. The dead man that I used to hold on such a high pedestal, so much so that he was like a god in my eyes, lies there, breathless, _lifeless_. It's hard to see the man I knew, the man I looked up to in him now. "You were right," I tell the old, cold corpse. "I'll remember what you taught me," _and what I took from your mind_ , "and I'll carry on the Empire, ensuring peace and order reign throughout the galaxy."

Saying all I want to, to the dead man, I leave his side and walk back out to the corridor. The clones are here. I can hear their boots clattering on the floor, echoing down the hallway. Two of them turn the corner and see me, relaying the information into their comms.

"General Skywalker!" I even _feel_ like him again when they run to stand before me, stopping, saluting, and waiting for my orders.

If it was anyone else, I'd lash out at them for calling me a man I no longer am. But, my men aren't anyone else, they're my troopers. "Secure the floor. Nobody enters or leaves without my direct say so. Also, cut off _all_ communications. Nobody, except for _us_ , sends or receives any calls, messages, or holograms."

They salute me again. "Yes, sir!" Then they go and ensure my orders are carried out.

I keep walking back down the hall to Padmé's room and use the Force to pull a chair from the nearby nurses' station and sit guard outside Padme's closed door. She may not want me to be in there right now, _for good reason_ , for the _both_ of us, but I'll be damned if I'm not nearby when she needs me most.

"General!" Captain Rex salutes me. I stand and return the salute to the one man I have left that is like a brother to me.

At least I know _he_ won't turn his back on me. Not just because he's a clone, but because he's been nothing but loyal to me, and I've earned _his_ respect, like he has mine. "Captain, I assume your men know their orders?" He removes his helmet and levels a glare at me. I smirk and nod. Of course they're being carried out. "Good," I pull him close and speak low into his ear, "If _anyone_ attempts to enter, exit, or make contact with _anyone_ outside of this wing, they are to be terminated _immediately._ Is that understood?" Rex is an honorable man, not a Separatist who would kill needlessly, but he needs to understand that I mean what I say and that what I'm telling him to do is nothing compared to what I may expect of him in the future. But one step at a time. "We live in a different galaxy now, Captain." I wrap an arm around his armored shoulder and bring him down the hall to where the slain Emperor's body lies. "I need to control the flow of information, and until I'm ready, and decide how to break the news to the people of the galaxy and to the Senate, I need to keep _everything_ locked down."

The direness of the situation becomes clear to him, and he nods in agreement. I pat him on the shoulder and lead him back to Padmé's room. Glancing in the window of the closed door, he appears startled. "Is...is that _Senator Amidala?_ " He stutters.

I nod, looking through the same window with a smile. "Yes. She's my wife and soon-to-be mother of my child," I tell him proudly. His eyes widen, mouth drops open, helmet falls to the floor with a clatter, gaining Padmé's attention. She smiles tiredly at him and waves weakly. He nods back, closes his mouth, speechless. "I also need to keep _this_ quiet as well, until we decide to tell the galaxy our business."

Rex is a man of few words, another thing we have in common. He's also sensible. He picks up his helmet and scratches his bald head. "What are your plans, General?" If he wasn't a clone, he may be able to help me with that. He _is_ a clone though, and although he may be one of the more _intelligent_ men I know, he's only really good at one specific thing.

Warfare. Military. Strategy.

All one in the same. You can't have one without the other. "The Emperor is dead," I flat out state. "When the news comes out, there _will_ be chaos in the galaxy, and although I've destroyed the Separatist leadership and made sure their droid army has been shut down, there are _still_ Separatists out there, as well as those who would wish to bring the Empire down, even from the inside. I can't...I _won't_ allow that to happen."

My determination hardens over. I mean business, and Rex must see it in my expression. "Then what are you going to do, Sir?" His voice is cautious, curious.

He's still looking up to me as his General, it's nice to have someone look up to me for orders. To listen to my _every_ word, my _every_ command and not admonish me or attempt to put me back in my place like I'm a child who has no clue what he's talking about.

I can get use to this and have every intention of doing so.

First I bring him up to speed, let him come to his own conclusions from there. "Before the Empire was born, the Emperor and I met in private, after the Jedi Council attempted to assassinate him in cold blood. I saw Master Windu attempt to kill the then Chancellor and would've had I not intervened and cut Master Windu's hand off. The Chancellor killed him. It turned out _he_ was the Sith all along, the one we've been looking for, but he _wasn't_ what the Jedi painted him as."

I shake my head, take a deep breath, then continue my _carefully_ constructed story. One that I'll end up repeating, until I get what I want, and then there will be no stopping me until this galaxy is painted in _my_ image. I wasn't kidding when I told Padmé that we could make the galaxy the way we wanted it to be. We will. I'll make sure of it.

"As I was saying," I continue, "he proved to me that the _Jedi_ were the evil ones, the ones who stood in our way of ensuring peace and order in the galaxy. It was hard for me to believe too, but everything he said was _proven_ to be true when I saw what the Jedi attempted to do by trying to kill the Chancellor with a Jedi hit squad instead of taking him into custody, like I so adamantly demanded. Master Windu refused my demand and tried to slay the Chancellor. We know how _that_ turned out, and it proved that he was right all along."

I tell him all about what happened then, how I pledged myself to his teachings, accepting my place as a Sith Lord as his Apprentice. How I stormed the Jedi Temple with the 501st, something he knows well, yet wasn't a part of. How I then went to Mustafar, had the droid army shut down and then slayed the Separatist leadership, something he enjoyed hearing in explicit detail, and then how Master Kenobi ambushed us, killing the Emperor, and attempting to kill me.

That was the hardest part of the story, since it wasn't true in the least, and I had to be sure to word it carefully. He bought it all though and cursed in Mandalorian.

When I finish my tale, he brings his hand to his chin and rubs it, deep in thought. "You're going to declare yourself Emperor, aren't you?" I'm not surprised he connected the pieces. He may be a clone and limited in his intellect, but he _always_ was as sharp as a vibroblade. "Well...General, you can count on our support." He salutes me, a smile on his face. I salute back with a smile on my own face. "Just tell us what to do, where you need us, and we'll do as you command."

There was never a doubt in my mind that Rex would stand by me. He's been at my side for even my craziest planned missions, missions that I only pulled off because of his help and my power and skill in the Force. I've come to rely on him, and he's yet to let me down. "Thank you, Captain." He's going to be one of the _few_ I come to rely on in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. The future is never certain, but what _is_ certain is that I can't do everything on my own, even if I wish I could.

A glance in the window again shows a medical droid tending to Padmé's needs, and guilt punches its way into me. I should be inside that room with her. I should be the one tending to her needs, not a droid, but I lost that right. Just like Anakin _almost_ lost her when his jealousy seized control of him, and he nearly killed Rush Clovis for trying to kiss her. That name alone sends me back on top of that icy mountain, but I don't feed into it. He's dead, and what Anakin did then is _nothing_ compared to what I did to her on Mustafar.

I'm _not_ the man she married.

I'm _not_ the man she fell in love with.

What I am, however, is an evolved _form_ of that man.

I'm a Master now, a _Sith_ Master, and soon-to-be Emperor of the Galactic Empire. I'd say that's a huge improvement over where Anakin was just a couple of days ago.

Jedi Knight to Sith Apprentice, then Sith Master and soon Emperor.

And, let's not forget soon-to-be _father_ on top of that. Needless to say, my hands, from here on out, will be full. But, I'll be on the top, the one _making_ the decisions for not only my new Order of the Sith Lords but also for my Galactic Empire.

Things they are a changing, and I'm loving the change.

No more hiding who I really am or my beloved wife and soon-to-be _daughter_ from the galaxy.

No more of my hands being tied behind my back.

No more keeping me from reaching my full potential.

And most of all, no more having to be a slave to _anyone_ , except to my daughter of course, who'll no doubt demand a lot from me.

That's one Master I wouldn't mind having though, and the only master in life I'll ever have. Wrapped around her little finger, I'm sure I will be, as well as the fingers of any other children we may have in the future, of course.

My time for reflection is over, as I hear the chattering of a certain protocol droid and the beeping and chirping of an astromech droid that saved my life more times than I can count. Artoo sees me first and beeps in greeting, then Threepio greets me himself. "Master Ani! We finally found you, sir!" Threepio walks faster, looks down at his little friend. "I _told_ you I knew where I was going you little tin can!"

Artoo tweets back, shooting a derogatory comment that isn't very appropriate for flesh and blood beings, never mind droids, but that's my little astromech, my buddy. He may have picked up some cuss words from me over the years we've known one another. Much to my amusement.

But _not_ my protocol droid.

Threepio slaps Artoo's dome, "Why I _ever_ help you is beyond me, you rust bucket!" He continues to shuffle my way, and then he's finally before an amused Rex and myself. They turn and see, through the window in the door, Padmé inside her room, and Artoo opens the door and rolls right in, after beeping a greeting to myself and Rex first. Threepio is right behind him, and, as the door swishes shut behind them, cutting off their greeting to my wife, I feel better knowing that Padmé has them in there if she needs help.

Artoo and Threepio are family.

They'll take care of her like they always have.

"Ah, sir..." Rex lets his words die there, though it's more than obvious he's wondering why I'm not in there, too.

I run my hand through my hair, and the _whirrrrrrrring_ of my mechno-hand reminds me that I need to fix it. I take a seat on the chair by her door and take off my glove and lean my hand on my right thigh and take a look at it while telling Rex why I'm out here and not in _there_. "I messed up, Rex." I admit, my voice honest, sincere. I _know_ I messed up big time, and I'm not going to minimize that. "I'm not going into details, but I hurt her today in ways I never meant to. In ways that I don't know I can ever truly repair."

 _Kriff_ , what if she _never_ forgives me for the monstrous things I did to _her_ today? She forgave me for many things before, even looked the other way for other things, like slaying that whole camp of Tusken Raiders after they killed my mother, and twenty-six others that tried to save her life.

But that was different, they _killed_ my _mother_. She died in my arms. I was hurting, grieving, in so much kriffing pain that I wouldn't have truly cared if one of the Tusken's got in a lucky shot and killed me dead.

That's how it felt to lose her, and that's when I first tasted the power of the dark side. It's not a power I'm ever going to give up either, I just need to find a way to balance myself with Padmé. She's the love of my life. She's my lover, my soulmate, my wife, my _everything._ I can't hurt her again, _ever,_ and I need to be able to control myself around her, and our daughter. I'll _never_ forgive myself if I hurt her again, or hurt our daughter. Not ever.

Rex pats me on the shoulder, nervously. I don't look up, just continue working on my mechno-arm. "I'm sure you'll find a way to get her to forgive you, General. I find that you're great at repairing things." He leaves me with that, putting his helmet back on and joining his men.

I _am_ good at repairing things, but how can I ever repair our marriage after what I did to her? One thing's certainly clear, I lost her trust and maybe even her faith in me today. In order to regain her trust, I'll have to earn it back, and that'll take time and a whole lot of effort on my part. I'll do what it takes though. Even as Emperor, and a soon-to-be father, I'll do whatever I have to do to earn back her trust and faith in me. To earn back the love of my wife.

There's never been anything in life that I haven't been able to accomplish, if I put my mind to it. This task won't be any different.

It just may take me some time, that's all.

* * *

Several hours later, my mechno-arm is back to its original state, thanks to some additional help from Artoo, and Padmé is up to nine and a half centimeters and having contractions every one minute and twenty-two seconds, according to Threepio. She's still not letting me in the room. I've just been pacing outside, my hands clasped behind my back, ready to pull my hair out of my head in frustration every time I hear her having a contraction. It's killing me to hear her screaming in agony, and _feel_ her pain through the Force, and being helpless, unable to go in.

" _Ahhhhhhhh_!" She screams again. I look into the room through that blasted window in the door and see her sitting up, the gurney slightly reclined, one of her hands is wrapped around one of the bars of the gurney and the other crushing Threepio's hand. He looks as horrified as a droid possibly could. And hell, I've had kriffing enough. She's _my_ wife, dammit, and in extreme pain! She can be mad at me all she wants, but she needs me right now, regardless if she'll admit that or not.

She eyes me with a glare, as I enter the room, sweat pouring down her face. I take Threepio's place, and he _gladly_ lets her hand go and steps out of the way. Padmé wraps her hand around my organic one and squeezes- _hard_. "It's about damn time you came in," she has the nerve to say.

I take a deep breath. I _refuse_ to lash out at her. She's a woman going through labor. I's natural that she feels angry, considering all of the pain she's going through. "I would've came in sooner, Angel, if you'd have invited me back in, instead of watching me pace out there like a caged animal." I reach out with my feelings and try to send her some comforting vibes, try to help her body relax.

Even if I'm anything _but_ relaxed in this moment.

She yells again in agony, head thrown back against the pillows, eyes squeezed tightly shut. I can feel her pain all the way down to my toes. Once the contraction passes, she opens her eyes, glares at me, and says, "You needed to realize that this isn't about you, Ani." She takes a deep breath, something I heard the doctor tell her earlier to do to help her calm down. "I'm the one giving birth here, I'm the one in agony who's about to push a human being _out_ of my body! This should be about _me_ and the life of our _son_ , not you and your hurt feelings over a doctor not guessing you're the father, dammit!"

She's totally right, I know, but after the day I've had, the Dark Side is right there with me. It wants me to feel its emotions, it wants me to feed it, and that's what I'll have to learn to control. Feed it when it needs to be fed, just like the baby, and don't feed it when it ate too much or doesn't _need_ to be fed. So, I clamp down on it and try to soothe my wife. "I know, Angel. I'm sorry about being selfish. I know this _isn't_ about _me_. I get it. Right now, it's about you and our soon to arrive _daughter_ , so tell me how I can help you." I'll do whatever she needs or wants me to do.

I need to regain her trust and faith, and that means doing whatever she needs and wants me to do in her time of need.

"I need you to _shut up_ and _listen_ to me." I do just that. I keep quiet and give her my full undivided attention, arching an eyebrow for her to continue. "There are certain things that I haven't told you...or anyone, for that matter. Only two people know, actually."

What the kriff does _that_ mean? What's she been hiding from me?

"When you told me you had a vision about me dying in childbirth..." she says but then stops suddenly, squeezing my hand and screaming as another contraction hits before continuing once the pain passes, "I _knew_ it to be true-"

" _What_?! You told me that you'd be okay. That you _wouldn't_ die!"

She glares at me for cutting her off. "I saw how much the vision affected you. You had a horrified expression on your face, and you were trembling. Of _course_ I told you that. But, it wasn't the truth. I don't know if I'll die, but your visions always happen the way you see them, and when I was sixteen years old, I was diagnosed with a heart condition. My healer wanted me to tie my tubes then. She said child birth or stress, a _lot_ of stress, could kill me."

My throat's constricting, it feels like I'm using my own powers to choke myself. I can't breathe, yet my heart's beating so fast it feels like it's about to jump out of my chest, and my skin feels and even looks clammy to my own eyes.

She contracts again. It didn't feel like a minute and twenty two seconds though. She squeezes my hand harder this time. "I have a will on Naboo, and put all my money away in various accounts around the galaxy with you being my sole beneficiary with provisions for my parents and Sola and her family specified in my will. Just if I die, promise me you'll raise our son like we would together if I was still here."

I still can't talk, but I can see how much she's affected by what she just told me, and now I can see what'll kill her. Its her heart, not childbirth. If I can manipulate the midichlorians in her body to repair her heart condition then maybe I can-

 _"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"_ She screams bloody murder, and nurses and doctors rush into the room with a couple of medical droids. The same doctor I choked earlier, who has kept me _fully_ informed of what was happening since just after our first encounter, checks on her status and instructs everyone to gown and glove up.

"You too," he tells me, as I'm guided out of the room for a minute and a nurse helps me put on a gown, hands me something to put over my hair and gloves, even over the glove I'm already wearing, before escorting me back to my wife's bedside. "Alright Senator, when I say push, _push_. Give it all you've got."

Padmé grips my hand as hard as she possibly could, it feels like the bones in my hand are going to break. Maybe I should've given her my mechno-hand? It would've hurt less, but I deserve the pain, and that's why I gave her my organic hand. Besides, pain only serves to give me more strength in the Force.

" _Push_ ," he orders, and she does, and the grip on my hand gets harder as her whole body trembles with exertion, as she tries to push our baby girl out of her womb. She follows the doctors orders, pushing with all her might, screaming at the top of her lungs along with it, and then two minutes later, a high pitched wailing fills the room. "Congratulations! It's a boy."

Padmé gives me an _I told you so look_ , even in her current state. She's a mess, which is to be expected, but she's still so kriffing _beautiful. Especially now,_ I can't help but think, and I've never loved her more than I do in _this_ moment.

"You're not done yet, Senator." The doctor says, confusing the both of us as he stays standing between her legs. "Would you like to cut the cord, General?" He asks me, to which I readily nod and follow his instructions cutting the cord, disconnecting my baby boy from his mother. He then hands our screaming son to a nurse who's holding a towel ready and cleans the fluids off of him, and carries him to the side of the room to examine him. "You've still got one more baby to deliver."

 _What?!_

"We're having _twins_?" We both say at the same time, _shocked,_ as I come back from watching the nurse tend to our son to stand at my wife's side.

He looks between us both, obviously surprised we didn't already know. "You didn't get any examinations?" He waves his hand in an _it doesn't matter_ kind of expression. "We can talk more after, but right now, you _need_ to push, milady."

She sits back up, and does her best, and I help support her back with my other arm. I'm certain my hand is broken by now, it feels like she has a death grip on it. But after a few more minutes of pushing and trying to break my hand, if it isn't broken _already_ , another set of lungs are let loose upon us as our second baby's crying punctures the air around us.

The doctor smiles, "Congratulations! It's a girl." Now its _my_ turn to give Padmé an _I told you so look,_ and naturally, I do. I cut the second cord just like the first, and the nurses help Padmé clean up. The nurse that took our baby boy brings him over to me, as another nurse takes our baby girl. I reach out and listen to every word as she instructs me on how to hold him. She shows me how to position my arms as she hands him over to me.

I've never held a baby this small before, and I'm more than a little afraid that I'll drop him. I'm also afraid Padmé will just turn over and die. I try not to worry though as I hear her heart beat on the monitor. As long as _that's_ making a beeping noise, it means she has a heart beat, and that means she's alive.

My son is now in my arms. His head is lying on my upper left arm, against my chest, and his body is nestled between my arms and my body. The nurse said to watch his head, as he can't hold it up on his own, so we have to support it. I at least knew _that_ much.

I marvel over how much he looks like me and then Padmé slaps my arm. I look over to her and find her eyes locked on our son. Grinning, I lower him a little so she can see him. "Want to hold him?"

She nods eagerly and positions her arms correctly. That shouldn't surprise me. She has two nieces, she was probably there for both of their births and would know how to hold a baby. "Luke," she says reverently, her voice choked up with emotion.

" _Luke_ ," that was the name she wanted to name our son. and it fits him. "Luke Skywalker." It has a nice ring to it, I have to admit. and I'm glad that we have twins, even if it'll be more daunting to deal with than just one baby.

 _Twins_. Even seeing them both, and feeling their incredibly strong presences in the Force, it's still hard to believe that they're _ours_. That we _made_ them together.

Luke and Leia Skywalker.

"Here's your baby girl." The second nurse says, the one that took Leia to clean her up and examine her. "She weighs five pounds and two ounces, same as your son."

" _Leia_ ," I love the way her name rolls off my tongue as I say it, and my baby girl's dark colored eyes, so much like my wife's, find mine, and I can't help but smile. She's _beautiful,_ just like her mother, and I'm certain she'll look and take right up after her.

Just like I'm sure Luke will take right up after me, too. It would make me a happy man and father if he did, but he _won't_ be a Jedi.

He'll be a Sith. Leia will, too.

Leia cries in my arms, I gently rock her, but she won't budge. Padmé motions with her right arm, and I hand her over, "She's probably hungry." Padmé says, as she hands Luke back over to me.

Nurses help Padmé rearrange herself so she can breastfeed our daughter, and she was right, like usual. Leia goes right to work on suckling something that only _I_ ever got the pleasure of sucking on before. Luke moves in my arms, his light blue eyes looking into my own. His eyes are a bit lighter than mine are, but I'm certain they'll be the same exact shade as mine. He even has some wisps of blonde hair on his little head, while Leia has a bigger thatch of dark colored hair on her own.

One thing is for sure, we make _beautiful_ children together, and I tell Padmé so. She agrees completely, "We do, don't we?" I nod in one hundred percent agreement, and can't stop looking down at the two little lives we created with our love and passion for each other.

Love and passion that Yoda wanted me to let go. What the kriff does _he_ know about the miracle of life? About love? About loving someone so much that you feel what they feel? He knows _nothing_ of love, of happiness, of _family,_ and I'm feeling all of that right now, even if I'm keeping a close eye on my exhausted, yet extremely glowing and beautiful wife.

Her heartbeat is still strong and coming down from its accelerated heart rate when she was in labor. The nurses and doctors have left us alone in peace, and now its only us, our beautiful children, and our droids. Maybe I was wrong about my vision? Maybe the death of Obi-Wan and me being here have changed it? And, I would believe that if she didn't confess to me earlier about having a heart condition that can kill her if she gave birth, or was too stressed out. I'm certain that giving birth is stressful enough, and twice as much at that and that only increases her chances of dying exponentially. _Please Force, don't let her die!_ I beg the Force, and if the Force _is_ what brought me into existence then maybe it'll listen-

"Ani?" Padmé's voice is suddenly weak, her eyes slowly fluttering shut, arms dropping down to the bed. "Take...take care...of them, and _yourself_. And love them...for _me_. I love... _you_ , Ani."

Leia's falling from her arms, I quickly scoop her up before she rolls out of her mother's arms and hold her possessively in the crook of my arm with Luke being held the same way in my other arm. The heartbeat monitor slows down, and then comes to a halt, flat-lines, and her heads falls to the side, and I can feel her presence fading rapidly. "Padmé!" I shout, the twins screaming, crying in my arms. " ** _Padmé!_** " Nurses and doctors run into the room, medical droids with them, and I pass my twins off to them, knowing that if what Padmé told me was true, which it most definitely was, then there's _nothing_ they could do to change anything.

Only the Dark Side of the Force can bring her back.

"What are you _doing?!_ " One of them barks at me, trying to push me out of the way. My eyes gleam with anger, impatience, and the pain of possibly losing the mother of my children, my wife, just like my own mother and having to watch her die without being able to save her. I raise my hand and push it out towards him, sending him flying out of the room with a Force push. Nobody else bothers me as I set about trying to save my wife, without having any kriffing clue exactly _how_ to do it.

I only know that Darth Plagueis was able to bring people back from the dead, even save people from dying by manipulating the midichlorians in a being's body. If he can do it, then I can, too. I just have to learn _how,_ and I don't have that time. I just concentrate _all_ of my Dark Side energy on Padmé, willing her heart to beat and for her to come back to me.

 _Come on, Padmé! Fight, My Love! You **can't** leave me here to raise our twins alone! They need you! _**I** _need you!_

I keep repeating my words, sending _every_ thought to her through the Force and willing her to come back to me.

This has _got_ to work. Our family is depending on it.

* * *

 **A/N: Duh... Duh... Duhhhh...**

 **I know, cliff hangers right? Especially when it's just getting good? Don't worry, you won't have to wait long to find out if Darth Vader is successful in his attempts to bring back his beloved wife or not.**

 **I will point out that Darth Plagueis _was_ able to bring people back from the dead, he was _also_ able to manipulate the midichlorians in beings and create life in creatures without there being a second partner, and lastly, he was able to heal himself through these manipulations.**

 **If he can do that, then surely Vader could save his wife. He only lacks the knowledge and practice that Plagueis had. Nevertheless, even as Vader, he's still the Chosen One right? He can accomplish things thought to be impossible.**

 **I also added in that heart condition because I hate the whole _lost the will to live_ thing, and even if it _is_ possible to die that way, I still don't like that for a reason for her as it wouldn't really apply in _this_ situation.**

 **Please follow, favorite and review! Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Dark Emperor: Chapter 4**

* * *

My hands rest on Padmé's cold, lifeless chest, my eyes closed, my attention riveted, focused, and the Dark Side of the Force sings all around me as time seems to stand still.

In the distance, I can hear the flat line _beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_ of the heart monitor, our twins crying, their pain and terror only feeding my own dark power and increasing my strength in the Force, and the whispered words between the medical staff keeping their distance from me, yet watching me closely, intrigued.

I ignore everything and everyone. Padmé is my _only_ focus, and I need to concentrate _everything_ on her, _into_ her. I vaguely even notice the whole room, maybe the whole _building_ shaking around us from my efforts, but I pay no heed to that. Nothing else matters to me at _this_ precise moment than bringing Padmé back from the dead before it's too late, and that's what I try to do as I visualize her heart and try to find out exactly what's taking her from me.

So, I can repair the damage, because _nothing_ is taking my wife away from me. And I mean, _nothing_.

In my mind's eye, I can visualize her heart, as if it was sitting right before my very eyes. It's not beating. There's no blood flowing through her heart, no blood flowing through her body...but the blood _is_ flowing.

No, it's _moving_.

I concentrate and follow the trail and track it back to a tear in her aorta. I call upon the midichlorians in her body like I would call my lightsaber to the palm of my hand from across the room, and I order them to repair the tear that's claiming her life. I'm not about to allow anyone or _anything_ to take her from me, like I said. She's _mine_ , and she's _not_ going to die because of some tear in her aorta. The microscopic organisms heed to my command and get to work as I continue to visualize the rest of her body to make sure that I don't miss anything else, including repairing the damage I did to her neck, her throat. Nothing else seems out of place, excluding the normal circumstances in a woman's body from giving birth, which I also repair as best I can, and then I refocus all of my attention back onto the strenuous repair of her aorta until it's complete, then I stop pouring my dark energy into her and come back to myself.

I'm drenched in sweat. I can feel it pouring down me and seeping into my clothes. And, the power of the Force running through me right now is unlike anything I've ever experienced before.

I can totally get used to the Dark Side of the Force if it has me feeling like _this_.

The room stops shaking around us, our twins seem to calm down, and I finally begin to notice the carnage around us. The whole room is in disarray. The glass of the sliding glass doors is shattered, the walls have fractures running all throughout them, the monitors have been thrown across the room and are lying on the floor in a heap of shredded metal, plastic, glass, and whatever else they're made of. The only thing in the room left unscathed are the two of us, Padmé and myself, who happens to look as angelic as she did on the day I met her.

She's still lying lifeless on the gurney, her head titled to the side. I take a deep breath and bring my left hand down to her chest, watch the electricity jump around my fingertips and then jolt into her chest. Her chest convulses. If I did everything right, then that electrical charge should've restarted her heart to a normal rhythm, and my repairs should hold.

If she'd told me about her condition sooner, maybe I could've prevented her from dying in the first place. But, what's done is done, and the only thing that matters now is her coming back to me, to _us_.

To Luke, Leia, and myself. Because there's no possible way she could _ever_ think I could possibly raise them on my own, without _her_. I can't even fathom a _life_ without her. I just know that life without her, isn't life at all.

"Ani?" Relief sweeps through me at the beautiful sound of her voice. Her voice is weak, but stronger and not as raspy as it was before I repaired her neck and throat from my vicious attack upon her. "I...didn't...bring him with me."

What the _kriff_ is she talking about? Bring him with her? Who's _him_? I cup her face in my hand gently, brushing her damp, soft hair from the face I could never tire of seeing. "What are you talking about, Angel?" Is she dreaming? Hallucinating?

"Obi-Wan," she immediately replies. "I didn't know...he was on my ship. He must've followed me, hid away." She grabs my other hand in hers and squeezes, her voice growing stronger and eyes locking onto mine.

Her eyes take me back for a moment. They're not their beautiful dark brown anymore. They're amber, like my eyes now are with the Dark Side coursing through me. I hope this isn't permanent, though I could grow used to them if they are. I can get used to anything if it means continuing to have her in my life. "Oh," I say, because her eyes have really taken me back, and because it makes sense. I didn't sense any lies when she told me that she wouldn't bring Obi-Wan there with her to Mustafar. And she seemed convinced that he'd kill me, or at least try to, and I'll never believe she wanted or _wants_ me dead. "Forget about that, Angel. He's dead now, and if it makes you feel any better, I forgive you."

I shouldn't have, too. If anyone should be forgiving anyone, it's certainly not me. It'd be _her_ forgiving _me_ , but I don't know if she ever will. Even if I did bring her back from the dead.

She sighs, gripping my hand. "You really did learn how to save me, huh?"

I nod, bringing my lips down to her hand that's resting in mine, to kiss the soft skin that's growing warmer and livelier by the second. "I know you don't agree with what I did, Angel, and I don't expect you to." I take a deep breath and fall to my knees next to her gurney and beg her to understand, my own eyes glassy with unshed tears. She _needs_ to see my reasoning. All of the power in the galaxy would be meaningless to me if it meant not having her here with me. "You're the only woman I've _ever_ loved, Padmé. We married in secret, _that's_ how much we love each other, and now we have _kids,_ our very own family. I refused to lose everything we had, everything we created, everything we _could_ have because of the Jedi. They took my mother from me by preventing me from saving her. They used me as a weapon to further their own ends and tied my hands behind my back to prevent me from becoming the man, the _Force-sensitive_ _being_ I was always _meant_ to be. They told me I was supposed to destroy the Sith, yet when the time came to finally end them once and for all, Windu told me to stay behind, because not only didn't he trust me enough to fight beside him, but he didn't want me knowing the Jedi had wanted Palpatine _dead._

"The Jedi have lost their way during this war, and I took it upon myself to fulfill my destiny and end the war at the same time." The memories of slaying the Separatist Leadership floods my mind, my azure blue blade slicing through them, dismembering and decapitating them, leaving them on the ground, dead. They all deserved what they got, so'd the Jedi. "The remaining Jedi _must_ die. I'm the last of the Sith, Padmé, and the start of the new era of Force Sensitives in this galaxy. That's my destiny, I can feel it, and I only ask that you accept me, for _me_."

If she doesn't...I don't know what'll happen. I just know I won't let her go, not ever. We have a family now, and we're meant to be _together_ , not apart. I believe that with all that I am. If the Force didn't agree with me, then I wouldn't be able to have this second chance with her.

"Ani?" I raise a brow for her to continue, "Hold me?" I comply with her wishes, standing up and walking around the gurney. I slide in behind her and wrap her up in my strong arms. She sighs happily, and I inhale her beautiful scent greedily. She grips my flesh hand in hers, rubs her thumb over the back of my hand. "I've _always_ accepted you, Ani, even after you confessed to slaughtering that whole Tusken camp. And, I forgave you for choking me even when you _were_ choking me. You brought me back from the dead, Ani. I'm not going to belittle you for your choices. I always knew who you were. You were an open book to me, and I always knew how far you would go to save those you loved, and now I get to raise the twins with you. I get to be by your side and be your _wife_. We get to be a family. That's _all_ I want."

She tilts her head to the side, looks at me over her shoulder. I lean forward and bring my lips to hers in a loving caress. "No more Senator...no more Jedi. Just the four of us." She says against my lips, then turns her body around so she is facing me. The look on her face becoming serious. "What are you going to do now? You know the Emperor won't allow you to-"

I kiss her again, deeper this time until the only thing she's thinking about is how good our lips feel pressed together, how good _I_ feel pressing my hard body up against her soft one. "He won't be bothering us anymore, Angel. He's dead, I killed him." Nobody else hears my whispered confession except for the beautiful woman wrapped up in my arms. The medical staff outside have given us room since I brought back my beloved wife from the dead, and the Troopers are doing their job of keeping it clear out there. I reach out with the Force, searching for the presence of our twins, and I find them quickly. They're in the nursery, down the hall. "I'm going to take control of the Empire, Angel. I'm going to be the new Emperor, and you..." I kiss her again, my lips caressing hers. "...Angel, are going to be my _Empress_."

Her eyes lock onto mine, widening as she absorbs the information I just told her. Amber locks onto amber, and I don't think her eyes have ever looked so sexy. If they _do_ stay like this, I can _definitely_ get used to it, because at least she'll be alive- at least she'll still be _mine_. "He's dead?" Her voice is low, shocked.

I nod, leaning forward to bring our foreheads together. "He is. Obi-Wan killed him," I shrug. "Or at least that's how it will go down in history, _publicly_. Even if he was already dead before the Emperor arrived." The Jedi survivors may not believe their _beloved_ Master Kenobi could become a traitor to the Galactic Republic, but the people will believe it because the Jedi were branded as traitors, and because they were as sick and tired of the war as myself and my Angel are. "I'm going to call for an emergency session of the Senate and tell them the... _sad_ news, then bring them up to date on what happened and my role in it. I'm still a hero to the Republic, to the Empire and I'll use that to our advantage, my Love. The Senate will elect me as their new Emperor-for-life, and then, as promised, we can make the _galaxy_ the way we _want_ it to be." I grin at my words and kiss my wife senseless, she melts against my lips, and I can feel the wheels turning in her mind through the Force as she processes my words.

She runs her hands through my long blond hair and fists my hair, letting the strands run through her fingers. "I'll be by your side, Ani. But, I don't want any public role...at least not for now. I've served in the public realm for most of my life. Right now, I just want to be a mom and raise the twins and be your wife. I want us to be a family, a _real_ family."

I pull her body closer against mine. "You can have and do whatever you wish, _Wife_. I will need your help though. I'm not the politician of the family. _You_ are. And, I don't _want_ to be."

She gives me one of her smiles that never fails to take my breath away. "There are the blue eyes I love," she says, giving me a peck on the lips before turning so she's laying down on her back and cups my face, her face becoming serious once more. "Once you're Emperor, you don't _have_ to be a politician. You just have to learn how to play the game, and I will teach you how to play, what the rules are. But enough about that, I want to-" her eyes open wide suddenly. "Leia?"

"Is fine. I scooped her up before she could fall." I kiss her on the lips, then unwrap my arms from around her. She lets my face go on a sigh, and I stand to my feet. "I'll go get them. You stay and relax, I'm sure you're still sore and hurting from giving birth..." _not to mention, being revived from the dead_ , but I keep that to myself and just pray to the Force that my manipulation of the midichlorians holds.

She just nods, a relieved expression overtaking her features. I step out of the room and walk down the hall to the nursery. A squad of Troopers stand guard around it and salute me as I walk by them and enter inside the room where my two beautiful children lie in their own bassinets. Leia's sound asleep, her little hands on either side of her head, eyes closed, chest moving with every quick breath she takes. Luke's wide awake, making little noises and looking around with his big light blue eyes, a few shades lighter than my own.

I smile and step closer to him. His eyes lock onto mine, and I'm sure he's watching me closely. I know nothing about eyesight for infants or babies in general, for that matter, but I know he can see me, and hear me and maybe even feel me in the Force.

I scoop him up into my arms. "Hey there, my little guy." I smile down at him, offer him my organic forefinger, and he wraps his little hand around it, tries to bring it to his mouth. I let him and bend down and press a gentle kiss on his forehead. Being able to hold my son like this, see my daughter sleep peacefully in her bassinet, and to be able to talk to my wife and hold her in my arms makes everything I did in the last two days worth it.

If I didn't have them in my life, I don't know what I'd do. As it stands, I still don't know what I _want_ to do, other than make the galaxy as safe as possible for them. If that means gripping the galaxy by the throat in the fist of my mechno-hand, then so be it. There's nothing, and I mean _nothing_ , I won't do for my Angel and our kids, I think I proved that already by slaughtering all of the Jedi in the Temple and the Separatist Leadership.

 _Not to mention the two men that_ used _to mean the world to me._

The war is almost totally over now, and the biggest battle took place just yesterday. Without the battle droids at their command, and without their leadership and Palpatine, who obviously led both sides, whatever remains of the Confederacy won't last much longer. I'll lead my forces and decimate any remnant forces that remain, and I'll use my political power to usurp control from the commerce guilds that stole from the Republic while serving as part of the leadership for the Separatists. I'll prove to the galaxy just what kind of man and leader I am, and I'll do that right after I'm elected as the Emperor, which is just a formality, really. In truth, I am Emperor already. The only thing that's preventing me from claiming that title publicly is just the technicality that is the Galactic- _Imperial_ Senate.

"What's taking you so long?" Padmé's voice rings out, making me swing around to find her standing in the doorway. I'm about to scold her for getting out of bed when she holds up a hand to stop me. "I'm fine, better than fine really. A little sore, but I _can_ walk, Ani."

I nod, trusting that she's telling me the truth. There's nothing I could say anyway that'll prevent her from coming in here and seeing our children. "They're so beautiful," she says, tears building up in her amber eyes, as she stands next to Leia's bassinet and softly runs the back of her hand down Leia's cheek.

Leia's still sound asleep, her head moving just slightly. Padmé's telling the truth. They _are_ beautiful, something I already knew and have said time and time again. "They take right after their parents, as if there was any doubt that they'd be as good looking as us...at least from the moment that we found out that _they_ were a they." I press another kiss to Luke's blond head, and he keeps that grip on my forefinger. "They both take right after me in the Force, too. I can feel it."

This both worries me _and_ makes me swell with pride.

This worries me because of the threat they pose, not to _me_ , but to the Jedi survivors out there and to those that will want to eliminate me and will try to eliminate me by going after my children. I'll have to make sure they're well protected whenever I'm not with them, same with their mother, and I'll have to train them starting from their early childhood, like every Jedi youngling, only difference will be they won't be trained as Jedi.

They'll be trained as Sith.

And this makes me swell with pride because of how powerful they can, and _will_ , one day become. I'm strong enough as it is, the man who eliminated both Sith Lords and many Jedi, including two Jedi Masters, but I'm nowhere as close to my full potential as I can, and _will_ , one day become.

I'm _not_ on a leash anymore. I don't answer to anyone now, and I'm learning new things every day, like the Sith lightning and even manipulating midichlorians on my first try. Nothing is impossible when I set my mind to something, and with the knowledge I stole from Sidious and the knowledge locked inside the Sith and Jedi holochrons that Sidious possessed, I should be able to learn from them and become the most powerful Sith in history.

If I'm successful, not only will I be the most powerful man in the galaxy, but more importantly, I'll be able to keep my family safe from anything and _anyone_ that may wish to harm a single hair on any of their heads.

I smile grimly at my thoughts and vow to do just that, as Padmé comes to stand before me and reaches her hands out to take custody of Luke, a loving smile on her face as she gazes at our son. I hand him over, and she holds him closely against her chest, cradling him, cooing at him as only a mother can. I look on with pride as our son responds with coos and gurgles to his mother's loving attention.

The three most important people in my life are here in this room, and there's nothing I won't do for any of them. And words can't possibly describe how glad I am to see Padmé on her feet already. I've never been good at meditating or healing using the Light Side of the Force, but using the Dark Side, I was able to do what the Light Side never could, and that's bringing people back from the dead, and healing the injuries my wife sustained from childbirth...and from my own hand.

I don't think I'll _ever_ be able to forget the look of horror on her face or her collapsing to the ground, unconscious. I don't want to see her hurt again, especially not because of my own actions.

"Ani," she says pulling me away from my thoughts that made me feel a little uneasy, especially there at the end. Her amber eyes are looking at me with a thoughtful expression on her face. "I've been thinking... now that we don't need to hide our marriage anymore and now that I've given birth..." she bites her lip, averts her gaze to Luke's beautiful little face.

I wrap my arms around her and pull them both against me, making sure I don't crush Luke in-between us. When I was nineteen and went on my first solo mission as a Jedi, I got to meet the amazing people that would later become my in-laws. It didn't take a Jedi, or any Force-sensitive being to see and _feel_ how strong a bond, a _relationship_ her family has with one another. I'm truly surprised she didn't reach out to any of them and tell them all about us before now. I wouldn't have been upset with her if she did. But, she surprised me and managed to keep not only our marriage, but also her pregnancy from her family. I know it had to have hurt her to lie to them and not tell them all about me, all about the kids she was carrying within her, all about _us_. She's right though. Times have changed now, and we don't need to hide our relationship from the galaxy any longer. And I won't ask her to keep lying to her family. After all, if my mother was still alive...I would've told her a long time ago.

I give Padmé a kiss on her forehead and bring my forehead down to hers, gently pressing them together. "I'll make the arrangements, my Love. I'll have them brought to our apartment at 500 Republica, and we can tell them there." She has tears in her eyes. I wipe them away and give her a kiss on the lips. "It'll probably take a couple of days, which means you should be discharged from here by then, but there's...something we should talk about before they get here."

A number of things really, but the one that jumps out at me most is her eyes. Has she even noticed them yet? We'll definitely need to get her some contacts to- I can't even finish that thought before she's molding her lips to mine, and all thoughts leave my mind as our lips become one. "I love you, Ani," she says against my lips.

How she can possibly love me after everything is beyond me, but I'm not going to question her. I'm just glad that she still does, and I won't do _anything_ else ever again to make her question that love for me, or to question her faith or trust in me either. "I love you too, Angel," I smile against her lips.

Luke makes some noises and gains both of our attention. He seems content to be in his mother's arms and to be nearly squished between us. I lean down and kiss his little forehead again. How is it possible to only know someone for a few hours and have them steal your heart? I can't answer that question, but I know that Padmé stole mine at first sight, and now our twins have managed to do the same.

The resolve in me grows even more, and while I may not know what the future has in store for us, I _do_ know that we're a family. We were always _meant_ to be a family, and I won't let anything or _anyone_ come between us. I know myself and my family will become targets when I become Emperor, my wife, Empress. But, I also know that I'll always be a target. The Jedi out there will try to get their revenge against me for slaughtering the Jedi, even if revenge _is_ of the Dark Side, and I'm not about to hide on a remote world living in a state of constant paranoia.

My family deserves better than that. They deserve the best, and I'll see to it that they live the lives they deserve to live. The lives I always wished I had when I was growing up. I peer down between us and see Luke's eyes are closed, and I can feel him sleeping peacefully in the Force. Padmé sees this too, and she pulls out of my arms and goes to lower him back into his bassinet.

Our children have changed the way I see the world, the _galaxy_ , and I've never felt as protective or complete in my life. I'd never thought of having kids before. As a Jedi, they were the furthest thing from my mind during the war, and Padmé never brought up the topic with me. I've always known how strong my feelings were for _her_ from when I had a crush on her back when I was a boy and when we reunited and fell deeply in love. But the love I feel for the twins is more than that, and I can't explain it.

Padmé's a fighter. I may be overprotective of her, but I know when push comes to shove she could take care of herself in a fight. Our children obviously can't. They're helpless. They need us to care for them, to love them, to guide them into the galaxy they were just born into, and I won't let anything prevent me from doing just that.

As their father, it's my job, and it's a job that I'll cherish and do my best to excel at, because they deserve nothing but the best.

And, the best is exactly what they will have.

* * *

 **A/N: Well how about that?**

 **I was debating on exactly the heart condition she could have, and decided an aortic tear would be best. I also went about mulling on how to bring her back. I've read Plageuis' book, but Anakin/Vader wouldn't know how to master midichlorian manipulation, since Sidious never know how to either.**

 **Nevertheless, the way it's written is how I'd think it'd happen. Midichlorian manipulation, after all, is Sith alchemy. You'd need a lot of dark power to make it happen, at least that's what I'd think.**

 **Anywho, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I wanted this to be a family chapter, because they do deserve to have** ** _some_** **happiness every now and again. I also think that Padmé's reaction here is in character. In the canon novelization of ROTS, she was apologizing to Anakin and saying she loved him, as he choked her. I think Padmé would always love him, and she really did know** ** _exactly_** **who he was, even before she married him. What he did, turning on the Jedi, isn't exactly out of character, he would go to great lengths to save those he loved and he loved no one more than his beloved wife.**

 **And those amber eyes are a side effect of all of the dark power Vader poured into her, to bring her back to life. Will they stay that way? Maybe, maybe not. But that's not going to change how Vader sees her. She'll always be an angel to him,** ** _his_** **angel.**

 **Next chapter is currently being written and will feature Vader speaking to the Senate to claim his title and place as the** ** _Second_** **Emperor of the Galactic Empire. You already got a glimpse of what he's going to do with his power, and that's only a small taste. We'll also see Padmé's family coming up, though not until chapter 6 and that's when they'll learn the truth of Padmé, Anakin and the twins.**

 **There's a lot to look forward too!**

 **Please follow, favorite and review! Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Au** **thor's Note: Thank you all for following and staying with me and the story! I wrote this a few different times and each time I kept rethinking it, but I've come to like this draft. This Anakin/Vader is naturally going to be different than from the OT, I mean, he's not in that unbearable suit living with the torment of a lost battle that cost him his humanity and his wife, and kid(s).**

 **This Anakin/Vader has his wife, killed both of his old Masters, and has his children and his whole life ahead of him that's his to forge. I will say that my version of Vader is both light and dark, he's had both sides in him long before he started to become manipulated by Palpatine (back when he was a slave) and his experiences have forged him into the man he is today.**

 **A hardened warrior, General, husband and now father. He's finding his own path, deciding the kind of man, husband, father, that he wants to be. And now Emperor on top of that.**

 **Hope you all enjoy the story so far and stick with me for the story yet to come. Thanks for following, favoriting and reviewing!**

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 **D** **ar** **k** **Emperor: Chapter 5**

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Soft lips kissing mine wake me up out of my much needed sleep. I blink my eyes open to gaze into the amber eyes of my wife. Her eyes twinkle and she deepens our kiss, I tilt my head to the side to deepen it even more and take control of the kiss as she comes to straddle my hips on the reclining chair I'm sitting on next to her gurney in our room.

"Mmm," I groan against her lips as her tongue hungrily licks its way into my mouth. I've never been woken up this way before but I can definitely get used to it.

Her pretty lips curve into a smile at my groan and when she gets what she wanted, she pulls her lips and probing tongue back, brings her arms around the back of my neck and just stares deep into my eyes. Into what seems like my very soul itself. "Good morning, Ani." I can feel tears pricking their way to shedding free, but I shun my weakness and blink them back at the sound of her voice.

Her voice is just as I remember it. No more rasp, it's just as strong and lively as it always was. Just as I've always loved it. "Good morning, Angel." I lean my head forward so our foreheads connect. "I'm glad that your voice is back."

She kisses the tip of my nose, then leans her head forward to bring our foreheads back together. "I'm glad that I'm _alive_. I don't think I've thanked you for that yet." I shake my head and open my mouth to respond that she _never_ has to thank me for saving her, but she presses her lips against mine in a quick kiss to shut me up. "Let me speak first." I nod for her to continue, getting the feeling that what she has to say is important. "When you got your visions, I lied to you and told you what I thought you needed to hear, that I'd be alright and that I wouldn't die. I knew that wasn't true and on the inside, I was terrified of leaving you alone in this galaxy to raise our baby...when we thought we were only having one. I put all of my affairs in order, and made sure you had the money and support you needed to raise our child without me. Dormé was going to stay with you and help you raise our child, she knew all about my pregnancy...and my fears."

She takes a deep shuddering breath and just continues to look into the very depths of my soul. "At the end...I- _I_ was afraid. That's when I told you the truth about the condition I was diagnosed with. I wanted you to know that when I died that it wasn't...that it _wasn't_ because of you. It wasn't because you... _choked_ me. It was because of the condition I _knew_ would kill me. Then our son was born...I heard him crying and saw him. I saw him being cleaned up and then being told we're not done yet, that we're having _twins_. I thought I was bigger than I should've been, but I brushed it off as me being so small. Then, when I held Luke and Leia...I didn't...I didn't _want_ to die. I didn't want to die before either, but I was... _accepting_ of my fate, knowing what the risks were when I found out I was pregnant, and when I decided to go through with the pregnancy, that the risks were worth it, because the growing life within me was one we made from our love."

Tears prick at her eyes and some fall down her cheeks, she shakes her head to try and gain some semblance of control over herself. I brush the tears away with the pads of my thumbs and give her the time she needs to continue, rubbing my hands up and down her back in a soothing motion. "Thank you, Ani. Thank you for saving me." She leans back in and kisses me. I kiss her back and growl deep in my throat. I raise one of my hands to cup the back of her head and deepen our kiss until she pulls back again to say the words I love hearing most come from her lips. "I love you, Ani."

Her voice is sincere as she says those words and I growl, possessively and pull her head back down so our lips meet again and I lead the kiss this time. I convey to her in my kiss just how much I love her too and that I'm glad that she's with me. If she died, all that I did would've been for nothing and I would've failed _again_. But I didn't and she's here...with _me_.

That's _all_ that matters.

My wife is alive and in my arms and our twins...are down the hall in the nursery sleeping peacefully, alive and well. I brush my mind against theirs with the Force and send them our love. Then I come back to myself and pull my lips back, leaning my forehead forward to meet hers. "I love you too, Angel...so kriffing _much_." More than I can ever say in words, I hope she could see how much in the look I'm giving her, in the tone of my voice. "You don't have to thank me for saving you, Angel. I would _die_ before I let anything or _anyone_ take you from me and you know I won't ever let that happen. I-"

A knock on the glass sliding doors, that were fixed last night after I shattered them saving my wife, stop my words in their track and Rex steps in without his helmet on. "General- uh, I'm sorry, sir. I was just informing you that Senator Amidala's Chief of Security and Handmaidens have arrived." He rubs the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact with us but I could still see his face and see him starting to blush. "I'll...uh, show myself out."

He closes the door behind himself and I shake my head, smiling up at my Angel. _Oh, how things have changed,_ I think wryly to myself. I've never seen Rex so unsure of himself or uncomfortable. Or _blushing_ , for that matter. But I don't have time to consider or ponder that thought, because we have visitors.

"I think it's time you put your contacts-"

She shakes her head at me, gripping my face in her hands so that I can't look away from her. "Finish what you were going to say."

I sigh and comply with my wife's demands. "I was going to say that I'm glad I was strong enough to save you, because I can't and _don't_ want to imagine a life in this galaxy without having you by my side. I love you, Padmé." More tears fall from her eyes and she kisses me passionately, both our heads tilting as we get lost in the kiss...until there's another knock on the door and steps come to a halt as the doors slide open.

"Oh! We'll...uh, just give you a minute." Padmé smiles against my lips and sighs quietly, contentedly, I reach up to wipe away those stray tears.

The doors close again and Padmé pushes against my broad shoulders as she stands back to her feet and pads over to the other side of her gurney to get her contacts. She puts them in and surprisingly, I miss her amber eyes. I've grown quite attached to them since last night. "I guess it's time to start our day." I nod in reluctant agreement with her and she opens the door to let her visitors in.

Dormé's the first one in and immediately throws her arms around Padmé, hauling her into a bone crushing hug. I can't hear what she's saying, I could if I wanted too, but I'll let them have a moment in private. I trust my Angel. And Padmé did say that Dormé knew all about her pregnancy and fears...I don't know if she was one of the two people who knew of her condition but by the looks of it, she was.

Captain Typho looks uncomfortable as he steps in but he looks relieved to see Padmé alive and well, with his own two eyes. I have half a mind to kill him where he stands, but I brush my mind against his and ease my way inside with a few tendrils of the Force and find that he didn't know of Obi-Wan sneaking onboard her skiff or about his plot against me, and I stay my hand.

If he did know then I wouldn't be so forgiving, I'd kill him where he stands and use him as an example for those who would betray my wife's loyalty and trust. If they'd betray her, then as a result, they betray me because I trust and love no one more than my wife, despite the things she's kept from me. I kept things from her too, so we're about even in that regard and we both had our reasons.

I'm about to excuse myself from the room to go talk to Rex about our plans for the day ahead and about making arrangements for Padmé's family when Typho turns to face me and steps forward to block my path. "I hear congratulations are in order, General." He extends a hand and nervously runs his other hand through his semi-long curly black hair.

I shake his hand. "Thank you, Captain." And I get an idea. "Can we talk outside about something?"

He nods, turns around and we step outside into the hallway. Rex is nearby along with other Troopers but they all keep their distance. "I know- I shouldn't have let her leave, but she said it was something she had to do on her own and I assumed she was going to meet up with you-"

I raise a hand to silence him. "I know my wife, Captain. And she _was_ safe with me, things happened that I won't get into right now but as you can see..." we turn to face her through the glass sliding doors. "...she's fine. Anyway, last night we were talking, and I promised Padmé that we'll fly her family here and break the news to them. As you know...with me being a _Jedi_ and all, marriages were strictly forbidden, as were _any_ types of attachment. We obviously broke that rule and married anyway, in secret. Padmé never told her family and as far as I know, they don't even know she _was_ pregnant. I want to know if you can get her whole family here for me? It'd mean the world to her and I know she wants to stop hiding who she is from them. And I want that too."

"Say no more, I'll get right on it." Captain Typho promises.

I nod my thanks to him. "Thank you Captain, and be sure that no one mentions anything to them about me, or our twins?"

"I'll see to it personally," I know Padmé trusts him and if she trusts him, then so will I.

"Thank you and keep me updated. We should be back home in our apartment by then, but I want to be sure that we have everything ready for when they arrive."

"Of course."

I nod my thanks to him again and scratch that off my mental to-do list. Rex is just down the hall and I make my way to him. "Captain Rex."

"General!" He salutes.

Saluting back, I pat him on his armored back and lead him away from the other Troopers. "I'm going to make my announcement to the Senate today. Ready the men...just in case. We'll also take all of the representatives of the various commerce guilds that were in league with the Separatists into custody after the vote to elect me the Second Emperor is in. So ready the men for that as well."

"Yes sir!"

I turn back around and walk back towards the room, its empty except for the bags they brought from our apartment and left here. I go through the bags and find a change of clothes for me, a toothbrush and some toothpaste and lock myself in the refresher to change and brush my teeth. I know that if Padmé isn't here, she's down at the nursery showing off our beautiful twin children. I smile and get changed, brush my teeth and leave my dirty clothes on my chair and make my way there and sure enough, there they are standing outside looking through the large glass window at our precious twins.

"They're so cute!" Dormé and the other handmaidens squeal. I can't argue with that and don't as I come up behind Padmé and wrap my arms around her slender form from behind, bringing my lips bearing down on her cheek to press a kiss there.

"You brushed your teeth," she smiles, her eyes taking on a mischievous glint at the smell of my minty fresh breath. "I wasn't going to complain about your morning breath though, I still couldn't get enough of you."

I press another kiss against her cheek. "Same here, _wife_. I'll always kiss your lips and let my tongue play with yours. Morning breath or no, nothing will _ever_ stop me." Nothing can ever keep me away from her lips, not when they're as delicious and inviting as they are.

And being able to kiss my wife here in front of other people without a care in the galaxy of who sees or whose around? Its freeing to say the least, since we never got the chance to really _be_ husband and wife before now. Things always got in the way, we had to steal time just to be together and had to hide behind closed doors because it couldn't be known that we had feelings for one another, let alone that we were _married_.

But once her family arrives and becomes aware of our marriage and parenthood, I don't care who finds out. I'll assign a security team that I'll train myself to protect her and the twins and be with them whenever I can be. I realize I'll be busy with my new Empire, but I'll be Emperor, I can do whatever I please and even on occasion, work from home.

I'll make it work, because there's no way in the nine Corellian hells I'm going to let my work...my _job_ come before Padmé and the twins. We both did enough of that as Jedi and Senator, and I won't let it happen again.

Not when I finally have everything I ever wanted.

My wife.

My kids.

My Empire.

What more can a Sith Lord...a _man_ , want? Coming from nothing as I have, I must say that I've come a long way and with my wife and kids at my side, I'm sure that nothing can get in our way.

I won't _let_ anything get in our way.

Luke chooses this moment to start to cry, Padmé and I enter the nursery to check up on him, and naturally, Leia starts to cry too. Padmé picks up and coddles Luke, while I do the same with Leia.

She has that new baby smell that I never even knew existed before I held her and her brother for the first time last night. I inhale the smell deeply and notice Padmé smiling, amused, I give her a shrug of my broad shoulders and bend my head down to press a kiss on Leia's soft forehead. I rock her gently in my arms and rub my mind against hers to soothe her, and surprisingly, it works. She quiets right down, Luke does too, and her brown inquisitive eyes stare up at me.

Her eyes are exactly like her mother's, at least when they _were_ dark brown, they're beautiful. "It's okay Princess, Daddy's here." I assure her and she peacefully falls back to sleep in my arms.

My heart melts at the sight. She's so damn precious and carrying her in my arms? Yeah, I don't think I've ever felt this way...it only goes to tell me that everything I've done, all of the blood on my hands and all the lives I took, had been worth it for this.

I can live with what I did, because having my family here with me means everything to me- _everything_.

Luke calms down too and I see his blue eyes fluttering shut and like his sister, he also falls back asleep. We gently ease them both back into their bassinets and quietly leave the room.

The handmaidens give me this weird look, a soft look that only women can give. It makes me feel uncomfortable, so I wrap my arms back around my wife and whisper in her ear to go back to the room with me.

With her handmaidens and Chief of Security here, we have some time to ourselves and we have planning to do. She may not want to take an active role in my new Empire, just yet, but I'll need her help to secure my Empire-

 _Our_ Empire, and nobody could help me like she can. She led a whole planetary government before and represented an entire sector in the Galactic Senate of the Republic, if anyone could help me lead an entire galactic government? It'd be her.

I close the sliding doors behind us and clasp my hands behind my back, my gloved hand over my flesh hand. "I'm going to speak to the senate today, and if things go well, I'll be elected Emperor to _succeed_ the late Emperor," I begin. "I just need your help in wording my speech just right and I also need your help in getting in touch with Mas Amedda to get me in front of the Senate...can you help me?"

Padmé gives me an amused look. It makes me squirm, I've never felt so vulnerable and I'm sure it's because I'm asking for her help. I've never asked anyone for help before...not like this. But I can't mess it up, I'm not going to let everything I did go to waste because of a poorly worded speech or because of a poorly executed plan. I can't afford to mess this up, the entire future of our lives and that of the _galaxy_ is hanging in the balance.

I can literally feel the weight of the galaxy on my shoulders. I just hope I'm strong enough to carry it.

"Of course I'll help you, I am your wife, aren't I?" She gives me a coy smile, and I feel my anxiety melt away. As long as I have her at my side, there's nothing that we can't do together.

 _Nothing_.

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Padmé went above and beyond getting me ready for this.

I take a deep breath and let it out, then take another deep breath and one more for good measure before nodding to Mas Amedda and feel the podium rise under our feet and in less than a minute we're rising up into the massive grand convocation chamber of the Senate building.

The massive room falls silent and all eyes land on me. Mas Amedda sent out a message to all senators and their representatives that they were ordered to attend this emergency afternoon session, it also said that I would be the one speaking before them in regards to the Emperor and the Empire.

Word has been spread that the Emperor was killed, I had Padmé's help in making sure the word got around but nobody knows for sure if that's the case or just rumors. And everyone knows that rumors aren't worth much here, all politicians do is gossip.

It's in their nature.

Mas Amedda doesn't even need to call for order, the silence is deafening. I remember the speech Padmé and I worked on together, as well as her advice, and begin.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice. You all know who I am, so I will skip introductions and get right to why I'm here and why I called for an emergency session of congress." Padmé told me I was a straight-shooter. I jumped right to the point, never beat around the bush. She told me not to change that. To be who I am, and that's exactly what my speech here today reflects. "I'm here to announce that Emperor Palpatine was killed while on the planet Mustafar." The silence continues, but then questions are thrown my way and shouts of outrage sound over them. I nod to Mas Amedda who calls for order and I resume when the silence returns. "I know you all have questions, and if you let me speak, I promise that all of your questions will be answered."

This seems to satisfy them and I continue. "Following the betrayal of the Jedi Order, led by Jedi Master Mace Windu who attempted to murder the _then_ Supreme Chancellor with three other Jedi Masters, I raced to the Chancellor's rescue. I arrived in time and killed the Masters." They don't know he was a Sith Lord, that he managed to kill three of them before I arrived and they don't _need_ to know, I'm just going to tell them what they _need_ to know. Nothing more. "After that moment, the Chancellor declared the Jedi traitors and enacted Order 66, an order that would eliminate all Jedi around the galaxy, by the Clones. And he ordered me to raid the Jedi Temple with my 501st Legion and to kill all Jedi within.

"I carried out my orders and the Jedi rebellion was put down." Some cheering starts, clapping too but I stop them with a raise of my gloved mechno-hand. "However, not all Jedi were killed and this wasn't unexpected. Two Jedi Masters in particular managed to survive and they were Jedi Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. After my mission at the Temple, I was ordered to go to Mustafar, intelligence placed the Separatist Leadership there and I was sent to put them down and end this war- once and for all. That mission went as planned and I managed to kill them all, and had them deactivate the Droid Army.

"As of now, the Droid Army has been disabled and their leadership has been destroyed." The massive chambers engulfs into thunderous applause and I smile at the cheering taking place. I've got them eating out of the palm of my hand, I've just gotta stick with what Padmé and I discussed and I can get exactly what I want. I raise my hand again and the applause comes to a halt. "After I completed my mission, Palpatine, at this point, _Emperor_ Palpatine arrived on Mustafar to congratulate me on my success for not only putting down the Jedi threat, but also that of the Separatists...and that is when Obi-Wan struck. I didn't even sense his presence until it was too late. He knew that I was no longer a Jedi when he struck, that I turned to what the Jedi call...the _Dark Side_ of the Force. The side that is against the Jedi and the Jedi Order. After the long drawn out war and the fact that the Jedi wouldn't do what it had too to end the war, I was losing my faith in the Order that I was a member of. And their decision to assassinate the Supreme Chancellor...that was the final straw.

"I didn't realize how far the Jedi have fallen, just how far even the Jedi _High Council_ has fallen. But when Obi-Wan struck and first went for the Emperor and...cut into him with his lightsaber...I realized that the Jedi have fallen a lot farther than I ever gave them credit for and I took it upon myself to fix something that only _I_ could solve. I killed him, one of the last Jedi alive, and tried to save the Emperor, but it was too late." I let my words wash over the Senate and make myself look like a man who's truly distraught, saddened at the loss of an...old friend. An old friend who was using me his whole life...an old friend that wanted me to serve him like the old slaver masters and even like Obi-Wan. "I couldn't save him, but what I could save...is his vision. I know it's no secret to any of you here how close we were, he chose me to be his personal representative to the Jedi Council and they only allowed it so they could use me to spy on him, something he knew would happen and he used me to help build a case against them...a case he was planning to bring forward to the Supreme Court. The Jedi knew of this which was why they struck when they realized the war was coming to an end and they'd have to explain their actions before the Court and before all of you _and_ the galaxy.

"Now I'm asking you to let the man we all admired and looked up to live on with us...with the _Empire_." I take a deep breath and tap into the Force, letting it flow throughout the room to get a feel for how my request will play out. "Don't let the Jedi or Separatists win. Vote me to succeed the late Emperor Palpatine, let me carry out his vision...his hope, his dreams. Let me be his voice." The Force flows through me and I can feel the Dark Side in every crevice of this large room, I left out quite a few things...like the fight that Yoda and Palpatine had that Mas Amedda told me about, I can see the carnage even from here. And I totally left out the parts about Padmé and the fact that I killed Obi-Wan before the Emperor even arrived. But they don't need to know that. They know nothing about the Sith, or the Rule of Two. It was my duty to kill my Master, I just killed him long before he ever thought I would. And that isn't something any of these people could possibly comprehend.

After a moment, I take a step back and Mas Amedda steps forward to open the voting. It doesn't take long to come back and I couldn't be any happier.

"It has been decided that with ninety-four percent of the vote, General Anakin Skywalker is the new Emperor! All hail Emperor Skywalker!"

"All hail Emperor Skywalker! All hail Emperor Skywalker! All hail Emperor Skywalker!" Thunderous chants and applause sweeps throughout the large chambers and I can hear it pounding around in the base of my skull. And there's nothing about this that I would change. Now I've gotten everything I've wanted and everything is right with the galaxy.

I finally raise a hand and the applause dies down. "I, thank you, Senators. I'm humbled by your vote of support and I vow that from this moment on, that not only will we recover from this devastating war...but we will rise up and become better than ever! We will rise up and do what the Republic never could, and with this august body, we'll restore peace, order and justice in the galaxy!" More thunderous applause. "And as my first order as Emperor of the Galactic Empire, I hereby order the arrest of _all_ the representatives and senators and leaders of the following commerce guilds: The Trade Federation. Techno Union. Commerce Guild. And the Corporate Alliance." I would also say the InterGalactic Banking Clan but they've already lost their power and have been usurped by the Republic...now the Empire. The Geonosians are also a part of it, but they don't have any representation in this Senate, the organizations I've named, do and they're also not a commerce guild. "I also hereby order, with the power vested in me, the nationalization of said organizations to the Galactic Empire."

"This is outrageous!" One of the representatives of one of the guilds shout, but he's quickly silenced as members of my 501st storm the various docked podiums and take them all into custody. The chambers fall silent as the action unfolds but when the 501st exits the room and all of the members of the various guilds have been taken into custody, the room shakes again with the thunderous applause that Padmé told me all about.

Satisfied at these turn of events, I thank the Senators again and nod to Mas Amedda to lower us back down and out of the chambers.

When I entered, I was General Anakin Skywalker and now... _now_ , I'm Emperor Darth Vader- the galaxy just doesn't know it yet.

But soon enough, the whole galaxy will know who I really am and by then, there'll be nothing that they can do except bow before me, my wife- my _Empress,_ and our twins. Or, be destroyed.

Because I'm the Emperor now and this is _my_ Empire- _my_ galaxy.

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 **A/N: Like I said, this isn't exactly the same Anakin/Vader we know. Having his wife, his twins in his life is going to change him profoundly...but as you'll see, he's plenty dark and will have his moments where he may just be darker than we've ever seen him.**

 **But that's down the road.**

 **Next chapter we'll jump two days ahead and see the Naberrie family, as they fly to Coruscant and are introduced to their new family members and to Anakin.**

 **Should be a good chapter!**

 **Please follow, favorite and review. Thanks!**


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